Temporary Distraction
by Danica77
Summary: Kate is trapped in a life she hates. Things suddenly change when Jax comes into her life. Will it bring the happiness she never thought she'd have? Or is it just the temporary distraction that both of them need?
1. Chapter 1

******Just something different from my other story...this takes place after the end of Season 6...I don't own anything SOA but I love writing about them! Let me know what you think so far******

Kate sighed as she curled her chestnut brown hair into loose ringlets. She let one fall and it gently bounced off her shoulder before sliding down her back. She stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, barely recognizing the woman staring back at her. Sure, she was beautiful, she had piercing green eyes that could seduce any man, flawless porcelain skin, red lips that rarely required any makeup and a body other woman would kill for. But this wasn't her. This woman was disgusting to Kate. This woman was Sage.

Kate often wondered how her life got so messed up and when. She had been raised by her grandparents, never knowing her mom. Her grandparents had passed away in a car accident when she was 17 and left her with barely anything. She had worked a few waitressing jobs hoping to eventually go to college but then met Carlos, that was her ultimate life ruining event. Carlos was so good looking and a smooth talker. He told her everything she wanted to hear. He spent money on her and promised her the world. Carlos was her future, so she thought, a gift to get her to the life she always wanted. Boy was she wrong. Since then she had been off and on with Carlos, they were always hot and heavy, not being able keep their hands off each other. But when they fought it was just as extreme, mostly on his end. If you met her now you would never believe that Carlos had been the only guy she had ever been in a relationship with. The only guy she had "really" been intimate with. Carlos managed to cheat on her a few times while they had broken up and even got another girl pregnant twice. So why did Kate keep going back? Even she wasn't sure. Probably because she had no money and knew nothing else. Definitely because she was scared of what he would do if she did leave. He had so much control over her she barely knew who she was anymore, making the woman in the reflection unrecognizable.

Now that she was 27 she found herself at her lowest point of her life. Carlos was so controlling he made her watch his two kids all day, who were 4 and 6. They were so bad and never listened to her and because Carlos disrespected her, they did too. She was never allowed to leave unless he gave her permission and he kept her on a strict allowance, requiring her to give him receipts of anything she bought. He was involved in a gang and she knew it. The charmer she had fell in love with was more of a con artist. His skills were in manipulating and hurting people and he was an asset to his "family". He had guns and knives and always displayed them, which made her nervous with the kids in the house. But she could never say anything. He had influence in the community and that was something that just made her feel more trapped. Anything she did would be reported back to him.

Carlos would work all day doing construction while she watched his kids, then he would come home and expect dinner and sex. After that she would have to get ready for her job. A job she hated, a job that made her hate her life even more. Carlos had found this job for her, he said that it was the only thing she was good at and the money would be really good for them. She really had no choice but to listen to him, because when she ever expressed her opinions she would end up regretting it and hurting, and it only got worse each time. She knew one day he would probably kill her and she didn't think anyone would even notice.

But he was right, it was the one thing she _was_ good at. Even though she hated herself more for it. She could pretend she was someone else for the day, using her other persona to make a man feel good and forget about all of his problems even if it was just for a few minutes. Sometimes she actually felt like she was helping someone else. Most of the time she felt repulsed by the sick perverts and their requests. But she just tried to block it all out of her head and wait for it to be all over.

She sighed again and slipped her white lace mini dress over her head. She unbuttoned the first few clasps so her cleavage was peaking out just right and slipped her brown cowgirl boots on. She was going for the innocent country girl look today. _That_ always got her a lot of customers. They loved that she looked younger than she really was, most of them thinking she looked about twenty. Her face was so soft and innocent, not showing an ounce of what she endured every day of her life. She put some eyeliner and mascara on before heading out to the chaos that was her life in the other room.

Carlos was sitting on the couch watching some inappropriate show on TV while the kids ran around in the same room. She looked at him, hiding her hatred inside.

"Carlos, can I have the keys? I'm ready." She asked him with the nicest voice she could stomach.

He glared at her, obviously pissed he would have to get up off of the couch. "You better make some good money tonight, our rent is due tomorrow."

"I will."

"Target the fat sloppy guys, they are the ones with the most cash."

She felt sick inside as he threw the keys at her.

"OK I'll stay until 8 then." She said as she walked out of the door. It was going to be a long night and she knew that she better come back with a lot or he would be really pissed.

She got into his car and the thought of driving away to some random new town crossed her mind. She wondered how long she could live without him finding her. With no money, clothes, family or anything she knew she wouldn't get very far. And with less than a quarter tank of gas she might make it one town over. Of course he would leave it practically empty, just another way he could control her.

* * *

She parked her car near the big house and looked around, making sure no one was outside watching her. It was always scary to walk in alone, especially dressed like that. There were always men coming here looking for women and you didn't want to run into a desperate one outside by yourself, she had heard one too many stories of that happening.

Kate grabbed the keys and walked towards the house. With every step she took she tried to mentally prepare herself for what she was about to do. It was easier just to pretend she was Sage and this was all a play she was acting in. She never told anyone her real name, hating that she even let Carlos call her Kate. He only really knew Sage too. Kate she kept locked deep inside, in a place where she didn't think she would ever be able to find her again.

"Sage!" Niki called to her from across the room as she entered.

Sage walked up to Niki just wanting to get right to it. She had a lot to do tonight if she was going to come home with enough money for rent.

"Yeah?" she asked Niki, a black haired girl with huge lips. The men loved her for one thing only. Sage didn't really like any of the other girls and never tried to get to know them.

"Collette's looking for you," Niki answered.

Great, she thought. Collette was her boss, a real bitch. She thought she was the best piece of ass in the house. And maybe she was, but who aspired to that? She ran her girls to the ground and didn't give two shits about what happened behind closed doors. Maybe she was a good business woman, but there was definitely a problem with keeping the girls safe that she seemed to ignore.

"She's upstairs," Niki told her when she noticed Sage wasn't moving.

Sage went upstairs, looking around to see how busy it was at the moment. She saw two men that looked like they were worth talking too, balding middle aged men, most likely with good jobs. As she neared the top of the stairs she could hear Collette talking with Nero, one of her business partners. He was very nice and always looked out for the girls. She felt good when he was in the house, almost safe.

"I'm really worried about him Nero, you have to get him over here, he's going to do something drastic," Collette was pleading with Nero.

"Girl, I can't make him do anything, he doesn't eat, sleep, sometimes I wonder if he even breathes."

Sage knew exactly who they were talking about. Jax Teller. He was another partner who had just lost his wife a couple of weeks ago. She had heard he had gone off the deep end and understandably so. She couldn't imagine losing someone you loved that much. She hadn't seen him since and she knew Collette wanted to get her claws into him now that he was single. She was old enough to be his mother. She was such a terrible bitch, his wife was barely in the grave. Sick.

Sage coughed to make her presence known.

"I'll be right with you," Collette said and closed the door to the office she was in with Nero.

Bitch, Sage thought. She's wasting my time now. Sage sat down on a chaise lounge that lined the hallway and waited for them to be finished. She couldn't tell what was being said but she could hear Collette whining and knew she would get what she wanted. She had been having sex with Jax when his wife was alive, without any regard for his family. Sage knew he was no saint either but she truly felt bad for him now.

After about 10 more minutes Collette's door opened and Nero walked out. He nodded and smiled hello to her and she smiled back at him. He looked exhausted.

Collette stood in the doorway with her hand on her hip. "You can come in now."

Sage went into Collette's office with no intentions of sitting. She wanted to get to work as soon as possible.

"I just wanted to talk to you because I have a client who is looking for an underage girl. Obviously I can't give that to him, but I figured you might be able to pass as one. So Friday make sure you tone it down before coming in and maybe try to dress the part. He should be really good for business if we can keep him, he owns a lot of local businesses."

"Sure Collette," Sage answered willing to do what was needed.

"Great, now get out there and make some money." She directed her.

Sage wanted nothing more than to scratch her face off but she just gave her a small smile and walked back out onto the floor to get to work.


	2. Chapter 2

*****Thanks for the follows, favorites and reviews, glad you like it so far! Review if you can!*****

The night proved to be somewhat of a success. There were a lot of men mingling and Sage was able to catch most of their attention. They were very simple and quick and paid well. Some of them didn't even need anything physical, those were always the best kind. She had already made half of her rent by 1am but still had seven hours left to go. Things would start slowing down soon though as most of the men had families to go home to.

She decided to join some of the other girls who had crowded around a big man on a couch. He was the kind of man that you knew had a lot of money so everyone was trying their best to gain his business. He was sweaty and a pig, trying to grab them all and she really started to hope that he didn't pick her. But she could tell by the way he was staring at her that things were about to get really nasty tonight. Inside she started to feel nauseas but she pushed the feeling aside as she reminded herself it was just a job and she really needed the money.

She heard the front door open and turned to look, hoping it would be another prospective client, less sleazy than this guy if at all possible. But it wasn't, it was Jax Teller and he was wasted. She couldn't even imagine how he drove himself there the way that he came stumbling in, until she saw Nero enter behind him.

"Collette!" Nero yelled upstairs, sounding very tired and frustrated. Collette eagerly came running out, stopping at the top of the staircase and leaning forward seductively on it's banister. Her eyes grew wide and you could see that she wanted to smile, loving that she was going to get to comfort her man in his time of need. Nero turned and left as Collette made her way down. Jax was looking all around, rubbing his hands over his face, but Sage could tell that he wasn't really focusing on much of anything. She tried to turn her attention back to the man on the couch, knowing Collette would be angry if she caught her watching them. She noticed the other girls were still gawking though and found herself following their gazes back to the drama that was sure to unfold before them.

"Jax, baby, how are you doing?" Collette asked him as she grabbed his face in her hands. He sloppily pushed her hands off and Sage looked away, her ears still trained on them.

"Why don't you come upstairs? Relax a little." Collette was saying to him.

"No Collette."

"Let me make you feel better baby," she purred to him. Sage's stomach lurched and she found herself turning to watch them again, drawn to it like a bad movie. It was terrible.

Jax just stood there rubbing his eyes. "Jax, have you slept at all? Come up to my room, I'll help you fall asleep."

"No."

"Come on Jax, let's talk upstairs, not here." She grabbed his hand and he yanked it away. Sage, embarrassed for Collette even though she was a dumb bitch, moved her eyes back to what was going on by the couch. She tried to pay attention to the man who was grinning at her, repulsed by the sweat beading on his upper lip, but she found herself turning back, almost wanting to enjoy watching Collette miserably strike out. She looked back over to them against her better judgment and looked straight into two eyes piercing right into hers and she quickly and purposely turned away. _No, please no_. That would be the _absolute _worst thing for her, Collette would fire her and then Carlos would kill her. Why had she just looked again? Was she an idiot? She silently prayed that she had turned away soon enough but she felt the other girls start to move as he made his way over to them. They were opening themselves up to him, _what were they thinking?_ She slid in closer to the man on the couch in an effort to make herself less noticeable.

"He's going to want _you_," Niki leaned in to whisper into her ear. Sage just stared at her, hoping she was wrong. "You probably resemble her the most."

Sage eyes widened with the realization. She had never seen Tara but had heard enough to know what she looked like. Maybe Niki was wrong, maybe the last thing he wanted was a reminder of her. But she couldn't get so lucky as he walked right up to her and grabbed her by her arm to pull her up, his eyes were glassy but his stare seemed focused. She felt a little scared at what he would want from her. He was normally pretty intimidating and she mostly avoided him. But now, knowing he had gone off the deep end….

"Jax," Collette was trying to say softly.

He stared at Sage intently.

"Jax, you don't want her…."

"Yes."

"No, she's used up, you don't want to do that to her memory."

Sage turned and glared at Collette, she didn't want this to happen either but that bitch had nerve insulting her.

"Go with Collette, you don't want me," Sage said turning back to him.

"Jax," Collette's voice was practically begging him.

He pulled Sage towards the stairs with Collette following closely behind them.

"Sage, Sage!" Collette was starting to lose control.

Sage looked back at Collette, all she could do was offer a look of helplessness. Hopefully Collette wouldn't fire her, but the odds of that happening were not in her favor.

Jax dragged her all the way up the stairs and towards an empty room, pushing her gently inside. She watched him turn to Collette, who was standing in the doorway, not ready to give up without a fight.

"You need to go away," Jax told her sternly.

"You can't Jax, she has another client right now that she needs to see, a big paying client that we don't want to lose. It wouldn't be good for business," She said, trying to play on his business side, "So just let her out, _I'll_ make you feel better, _I_ know what you like." She was panicking and desperate.

"Go away and don't come by this room, I'm warning you," Jax threatened her. Sage started to feel really nervous about this whole thing. What the hell was he going to do? And Collette? She knew she would fire her for sure now. Sage avoided any eye contact with her at all but she could feel Collette's eyes drilling a hole into hers.

Jax pushed Collette out of the room when she wasn't moving and shut the door. Collette opened it back up and he pushed her out again, this time going out with her and shutting the door behind him, leaving Sage alone. She sighed and paced around, wondering what was happening and hoping Collette was able to convince him to be with her. But Jax came back in and shut the door behind him, alone with Sage now.

Sage stood still, the only thing between them was a bed, which she didn't dare to look at. She stared at him, waiting for him to tell her what he wanted her to do. When it seemed like he would never speak she finally decided to ask, thinking it was better to get it over with quick, maybe Collette wouldn't be as angry.

"So, what would you like to do?" The confidence she normally held was absent from her voice.

"I just want to sleep," he said and sat down on the edge of the bed, leaning forward on his knees with his head in his hands. Sage stood there silent, not sure why he needed her for that.

He looked up at her just standing there, exhaustion she hadn't noticed before was evident on his face. "Can you just lay with me? I think it will help."

Looking into his eyes, the sadness so palpable it made_ her_ want to cry, she realized what he was saying. He was so vulnerable it was heart breaking. He probably hadn't been able to sleep alone. _That's_ why he chose her, it was all so sad.

"Of course."

"I will pay you whatever you would make and more." He said, making her feel cheap, as she should.

"You don't have to do that," she responded, not really meaning it as she thought about what her fate would be tomorrow.

She lay down on the bed and turned her back towards him, thinking that would be what was best. He came up behind her, touching her hair and pulling it softly towards the pillow. She tried to relax to not look so tense. She felt a lump forming in her throat, evidence that his sadness was getting through, all the way to Kate. She thought she felt his face in her hair and she closed her eyes to block him out. With her eyes closed she was back in her reality. The reality of facing Collette once Jax had left to go back to his life. The reality of facing Carlos with only half the money for rent. Maybe it was what she needed anyway. An end to this horrible life she was trapped in.


	3. Chapter 3

*****Thanks for the reviews, you guys are awesome :) This one is a little jumpy but just need to set some things up. Hope you like it.*****

"Shit girl, wake up!"

Sage groaned as she felt someone poking her. But panic set in as she realized where she was. Her eyes opened wide and she quickly shot up in bed, scrambling to straighten herself out.

Niki laughed at her, "Girl you better get your ass up and out of here."

"I can't believe I fell asleep, what time is it?" Sage asked the woman who looked very amused at what she was seeing.

"Seven."

"Seven? No…."

"Yeah, don't worry though, he left you this." Niki said, handing Sage a wad of cash. Sage looked at her, confused.

"He gave it to you?"

"Yeah, well, he was leaving and I was in the hallway. He made it very clear what would happen if I pocketed it. He also told me he didn't want anyone bothering you, but I couldn't let you sleep forever."

"What?" Nothing made sense. Why couldn't someone have woken her up? How did she fall asleep? All she remembered was closing her eyes to block him out, she must have just slipped off with her eyes closed so long. "Collette's going to kill me."

"That depends, what _exactly_ did you do for that amount of money?"

Sage looked back down, noticing how fat the wad really was. Surely there was enough there for the rent. Part of her felt relieved that she didn't have to worry about that, the other part felt guilty he would give her so much for doing nothing. Maybe he was so drunk he didn't even know what he gave her, that thought only made her feel more guilty. But thinking about what Carlos would do to her if she didn't come back with that money was enough to chase that guilt away.

"Nothing."

"Yeah right, girl you better spill, every woman in here wanted to be you last night, including me. What I wouldn't give to be with his toned body instead of Fat Eddie Unibrow, blech." Niki said as she made a wretching sound.

Sage smiled slightly at that, "Seriously? How pissed is Collette?"

"She's really pissed, but she left a couple of hours ago. None of us think she could handle knowing you two were in here together."

"Well at least that gives me some time to prepare my case before I have to see her again."

"She's not going to fire you Sage, you bring in too much business. Your ass is her little cash cow."

"Wow," Sage said heading towards the door, "Thanks for that."

"You know what I mean, now get out of here, but you better come back with details for me tonight!" Niki yelled out as Sage was already halfway down the stairs.

She made it to her car and pulled the door closed, finally alone with time to think. She pulled the money out and counted it. He had paid her more than she needed. She looked up and out the window in front of her. Now was her chance, with all of this money in her lap she could just leave. Gone, forever, she smiled at the thought. _Thank you Jax Teller._ She looked back down at the cash and gently formed it into a pile.

Knock, knock, knock….She jumped as someone was banging on the driver's side window. Carlos.

He stared at her, motioning her to roll down the window. She rolled it down as the pit of her stomach seemed to sink beneath her seat.

"Been waiting on you."

"I told you I was staying til 8."

"So why are you in the car at…." He glanced at his watch, "7:22? Somewhere to stop on your way home?"

"No, I just left early because I had already made rent."

"Well you could have made more if you stayed until 8." He said trying to argue with her.

"So I'll go back in then."

"No, I need you at home, I have Daisy watching the kids because I have to go in early. But don't think I'll forget about this little stunt." He said as he reached his hand in the window and grabbed all of the money from her lap before turning around and just walking away. All of the shit she had to do for that money and he just took it.

Kate felt like crying but she pulled herself together. Maybe this was the life she deserved. She went home to relieve her neighbor Daisy from the duty of watching Carlos's kids. Daisy was a little old lady and she wasn't even sure she could see her own hands, much less watch two hyper children.

The rest of the day went like any other. Watching his kids as they ran around and didn't listen. It was summer time so she had the pleasure of being with both of them all day. She was suddenly extremely thankful for the sleep she did get, knowing that without it she would be running on empty. Carlos came home around 7:00 just in time for her to be able to get in the shower and go back to work. She slipped into their bedroom when she heard him pull up, she wanted to avoid him and make herself seem busy. She went through her closet, trying to decide what she was going to wear that night and settled on something a little low key. After the night before, she needed to slow things down and give herself a break. She pulled out a plain black tank dress and slipped it on.

"There's the little whore," Carlos said, coming up behind her and blocking the exit to the closet.

"Hey Carlos, how was work?" She said, trying to sound happy and avoid his attempt to start an argument.

"Pretty shitty, I couldn't stop thinking about where you were off to this morning."

Kate knew this was only going to go bad, but she did her best to diffuse him, "Baby, I was just coming home to you, I thought you'd be happy with how much I made for you." But she could see from his face he had a plan and he was sticking to it.

He came towards her and pulled her hair, spinning her around. He pushed her face first into the wall still yanking a fistful of hair back so she was looking at the ceiling.

"When I find out who he is, he's a dead man."

"Carlos, there's no one else."

"You're _my_ whore got it? No one else would want you for anything but a nasty fuck." He pulled her dress up and did what he always did. Kate cringed at the pain that came from the unwelcome intrusion. His grip on her hair got tighter as he did his thing causing Kate to bite her lip in an effort to stop from screaming out. He had no regard for her body either as he was pushing her harder and harder into the corner of a shoe rack with each movement. He was always careful not to leave bruises or touch her face, but he still managed to cause her a great deal of pain. She closed her eyes waited for him to be finished so she could get the hell out of there. But where was she running to? Collette?

"You better not shower," He ordered her as he zippered himself up, "You're mine and I want everyone to know it."

He backed away and soon she could hear him yelling at the kids to move from his view of the TV. She leaned against the wall to pull herself together. She couldn't be late for work. As terrible as a job that it was, at least she was away from him.

She went into the bathroom and was careful to clean herself with only the sink. She splashed water on her face before heading out the door.

* * *

Things seemed to be pretty steady when she walked into work. Men were everywhere, leaving only one or two women trying to get each of their attention. She went towards the back room to put her things down when Niki ran up and pulled her into one of their "work" rooms and shut the door.

"I couldn't wait for you to show up," She said, completely out of breath.

"Why what's going on?" Sage answered, a little amused that running down a hall would have such an effect on her.

"First, Collette's been looking for you, asking when you're coming in and where you're at. Not just to me, but a few of the girls."

_Great_, she thought. One thing she knew for sure, if she was getting fired, she was kicking Collette's ass for it. She would much rather go to jail than face Carlos and the bitch deserved it. "Ok," she answered her, wanting her to continue.

"Second, a cop is here."

"What?"

"A cop, some lady cop is here. She wanted to talk to Collette. The girls think she wants to talk to her about Tara's death. Maybe she's a suspect or something."

Sage usually didn't listen to what the girls said, they liked to blow things out of proportion for the shock value, but this time it was good. "You don't think…"

"Actually it makes sense. She seemed really desperate last night as he was taking you away upstairs. Maybe she can't handle him being with anyone else."

"So how long has she been talking to her?"

"About 45 minutes or so."

"Huh," Sage answered. It was very interesting. But maybe she was here for other reasons. Maybe she was looking for a payoff to keep Collette's "legit" business off the radar.

"So, you going to give me the details or what?"

"Nothing to tell." She answered the eagerly awaiting woman.

"At least tell me if it lived up to the hype."

"No really, nothing happened. You saw how drunk he was."

"Damn," Niki said thinking, "No, I don't believe you, I saw what he paid you. But I do think he swore you to secrecy. And I _will_ find out." She grinned at Sage mischievously.

"You're too much," Sage answered, "I guess I better face the boss, this should be interesting."

"_That_ you better tell me about!"

*****Let me know what you think, or what you think will happen, or what you _want_ to happen...Will update soon!*****


	4. Chapter 4

*****Thanks for the reviews, so sweet! And I love hearing what you want from this! Glad you guys are enjoying it.*****

As Sage approached Collette's office, the door opened and a forty-something brown haired woman stepped out. She glanced in Sage's direction, her eyes untelling and kept walking down the stairs and out the front door. _Must be the cop_, Sage thought. She looked back to Collette's doorway where Collette stood glaring at her before slamming the door shut.

_Guess it's not the right time for our little chat_. She smiled to herself and made her way down the stairs to the main area to get to work. The night proved slower than usual for her, not because there was no business to be made, but mostly because she completely avoided talking to any of the prospective clients. She knew she would eventually have to work, she couldn't go home entirely empty handed, but she figured a few regulars would probably show up to bail her ass out. She knew what they liked so she'd be able to put in the minimal effort, getting it over with quick, and then at least she'd have something to show for the night.

"What's wrong with you tonight girl?" Niki asked, coming up behind her while she was grabbing a drink.

"I don't know, I just can't get into it."

"Sage." The voice crackling and high pitched like a prepubescent boy. It could only be one person.

Sage turned and saw Collette standing there, her hands by her sides and her lips pursed. "Yes Collette?"

"Can I see you in my office please?"

"Sure," Sage snuck a glance at Niki who seemed overly excited for this to be happening. She rolled her eyes at her and turned to follow Collette back upstairs.

"Close the door please," Collette said as Sage entered her office. Sage obliged and lightly bit down on her tongue, needing to keep her cool as well as her job. "So there's something that I need to address with you."

Sage just looked at Collette, not wanting to talk at all but figuring she better start so she could get the hell out of there, "I'm sorry about last night Collette."

Collette just glared at her, hard and pissy, and waited for her to continue.

"I really didn't want any of that to happen," She didn't want to go overboard with details or butt kissing, because she really _wasn't_ sorry. She just wanted to keep her job.

"You seemed to go pretty willingly." Collette eyed her with suspicion, like she was privy to something that Sage didn't even know herself.

"I didn't, I was just intimidated by him and he's my boss too so I wasn't sure what the right thing was honestly."

"Well, I will fill you in on what the right thing is. The right thing is to not interfere when I am dealing with him, I know how to handle him and he was not in a state to be dealing with just any girl here. Keep yourself busy with the clients and leave Jax to me and we will all get along fine."

"No problem," Sage said before turning and practically running out of there. She couldn't stand to look at Collette any more than she had to and she didn't expect Jax to be back for her, so she was happy to put it all behind her.

* * *

A few days had passed and Collette was back to her normal wenchy self. Most of the girls just stayed out of her way because that was really the only way you could survive working for her. Jax hadn't come around at all so she was starting to bother Nero about him again and Nero seemed preoccupied with Gemma, Jax's mom, who apparently had also gone off the deep end ever since Tara's death.

It was Friday and tonight Sage was supposed to come in looking underage. She did her best to tone down her makeup for a more natural and younger look. She put her hair in braids and wore knee socks and a plaid skirt, really embracing the stereotypical school girl fantasy. She was curious who this new client was, according to Collette he owned a lot of businesses so it was possible she knew of him already.

She didn't have to wait long to meet him. His name was Martin Paulsen and he had just bought a lot of the businesses on Main Street in Charming. They used to be owned by Charming residents and controlled by the Sons of Anarchy, a local motorcycle club that Jax was the president of. But lately things had been changing, she wasn't sure if it was because the club had changed structurally or for another reason, but the hold they once had on "protecting" their community was shifting.

She had never seen Mr. Paulsen before until he walked into the house. He was in his early fifties, a tall striking man with salt and pepper hair and piercing blue eyes. You could tell he took good care of himself, his clothes were all tailored and it looked like he went running every morning of his life. He immediately took a liking to Sage and was even more drawn to her when Collette convinced him that she was so young what they were doing was illegal in more ways than one.

One thing that Sage had learned while working at this job was that there were a lot of weird people out there walking around. Seemingly normal looking people, put together people, those were the worst kinds.

The things he had requested that she do for him _almost_ shocked her. He definitely had a thing for young girls. Sage was disgusted by him and his requests but she was able to keep her working face on. She must have made quite an impression on him though, because Collette was extremely happy with her afterwards. It was almost irritating how happy she was.

She was happily buzzing about upstairs, fluttering in and out of her office, when Sage decided to join the other girls downstairs. Most of them were sitting around chatting on some couches while waiting for more clients to come in for the night.

"So you must have brought out all your skills for Mr. Moneybags," a woman named Skyla said to her as she came over to sit with them. She said it in a way that made Sage wanted to punch her, but she decided to be nice and play along.

"Yes, all of them, I had to remember a lot about my preteen years but thankfully it all came rushing back to me pretty quick."

"Amazing how you could go from the low man on Collette's shit list to the star student in less than a week."

"It is amazing." Sage felt like walking away but she was too tired to give her any thought. She looked around for Niki but she must have been off with a client in a room somewhere.

"So…Jax Teller huh? How was _that_?" another woman named Yasmin asked. All the women around her stared at her waiting for her to answer.

"Nothing to tell," she answered. "_None_ of you have been with him?" She was confused, with his reputation he had to have been with someone else besides Collette.

They all shook their heads. As one of them started to talk about him again the door opened, and there he was. This time he wasn't drunk, but he still looked exhausted, dark circles highlighted underneath both of his eyes. Sage wanted to get up and go into the back to avoid him so Collette could do her thing, but she was afraid to move and draw attention to herself. He looked over at her but then looked away as he went upstairs and to Collette's office. Sage felt relieved that he wasn't drunk and he seemed to have his senses about him. At least she didn't have to worry about any drama unfolding tonight.

She went into the back to take a quick break and make herself scarce. She thought about the happy mood Collette was in and how this was probably the icing on her cake. Skyla was right about her being the star student, damn she was probably even screaming her name out right now in all her happiness.

Sage laughed to herself as she ate her sandwich, imagining Collette naked and screaming out her name on top of Jax. Maybe he'd slap her a few times for bringing it up. She laughed again, _boy am I twisted._

"What the hell are you laughing at all by yourself in here?"

Ah Niki, there she was.

"Nothing, I'm just screwed up."

"Girl, you're screwed alright," Niki came over to her and sat on the edge of the table, "He's looking for you."

Sage almost choked on the bite of her sandwich that practically got lodged in her throat. She_ had_ to be talking about Mr. Paulsen.

"Who?" She asked, already knowing the answer to her question.

"Mr. Teller...you know, the "client" you did "nothing" with," She said, using her hands to make little quotation marks for emphasis. "Strange that he would be back for more."

"But I saw him go into Collette's office."

"Yeah about that…." Niki quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Oh no."

"Yeah, you know that good mood she was in, well, strangely it has disappeared."

Sage put her sandwich down. She tried to remember her conversation with Collette, just for the sake of her job, but she hadn't really been listening to her so she was coming up with nothing.

"Lot's of strange things going on lately."

"What?" Sage asked looking at her.

"Oh nothing," Niki answered her with that devilish look again, "Shall I tell him where you are?"

*****Sorry so short, but had to end it there...would LOVE to hear from you!*****


	5. Chapter 5

*****Thanks again for all of the reviews, follows and favorites!*****

"What do I do?" Sage asked Niki. She had never considered her a friend but lately her smartass was really starting to grow on her.

"You talk to him and see what he wants." She answered her like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What if he wants me to go with him again?"

"You go with him dumbass. Stop worrying about Collette."

Sage sat drumming her fingers on the table, trying to figure things out. Niki was right, she really needed to stop caring what Collette thought. Maybe she was just more concerned about Carlos's wrath if anything happened to her job here.

"A man who looks like that and pays like that, you are _way _overthinking it….And that my dear, is my awesome advice for the night," Niki said with her hip swung out and her hand resting on it.

"Thanks for that, I'm honored," Sage said smiling at her and gathering up her food.

"Any time," Niki said swatting the air as she left to go back out to work.

Sage threw her garbage away and made her way out of the break room to go back to the main room. She saw him right away, walking down the hallway, heading towards her. His shoulders were slumped down but he straightened up when he heard someone walking his way. She could see the recognition in his eyes when he spotted her and she knew it was true that he had been looking for her.

"Hi," he said as he approached her. His greeting felt strange and she realized they had never really spoke much to each other.

"Hi."

"Can you help me out?" She slightly cringed to herself, she had been hoping that it would only be a one time thing.

"Is it ok?" He asked staring at her, waiting for a response. She would need to put her work face back on because he must have noticed her apprehension.

"Of course it is."

"Thanks." She started walking down the hallway, looking for a room they could use without having to go past Collette's office. She knew that he was following her, but she didn't dare look back at him.

She found a room that was recently cleaned and smelled like lilacs instead of other things. It was small with no pillows on the bed but she opened the closet and found some inside. He came inside the room and closed the door behind him. There were no locks on the them for safety reasons and Sage wondered if Collette would come looking for her.

"I took care of Collette," he said. _Damn girl put your game face on. _She never realized how readable she really was.

She got into the bed and turned with her back towards him. She knew it was best for him to not see her or hear her. Besides, it was awkward thinking of what to say to him. He was here because he missed his wife and couldn't sleep without her. What do you say to that?

He got in behind her and slid up close. She could feel his warm body relax.

This time she kept her eyes open, determined not to fall asleep, while he fell asleep almost right away. Sage found it hard to stay still being wide awake, every movement she made she could feel him start to stir.

She tried to take her mind off of where she was and what she was doing. But her mind started thinking about anything and everything, her thoughts rambling, from this situation, which she quickly blocked, to his, and then to her's. Collette, Carlos, Mr. Paulsen, Niki and back to Jax. Her body felt antsy, probably only because she knew she needed to keep it still, but soon the feeling grew until she absolutely _had_ to shift herself. She was convinced that she was cutting off the circulation on the right side of her body. She shifted slightly and he stirred again, this time moving his left arm over the side of her body, pinning her beneath it. _Real great, now you really can't move. _His arm felt warm and she looked down at it, noticing how muscular and perfect it looked around her. _What the fuck are you thinking? _She tried to clear her mind of the unwelcome and unhealthy thoughts that had started to creep in there. She figured her best bet was to sleep, not think of anything and then it would be over.

* * *

Sage felt her body shake and opened her eyes to see Jax standing there.

"Thanks." His emotionless face just looked at her.

"No problem," She said getting up out of the bed.

"Here," He handed her the money and she felt like shit taking it.

"Jax, I…."

"Thanks again," He was already out the door as she tried to protest.

She glanced at the clock and saw that it was 6:13 am. She looked at the money and pulled $100 out of it, tucking it into her bra. She decided then that every night that she made more than she normally would, she would keep $100 to the side. She would find somewhere to keep it and when she had enough she could get out of there. She had to make a plan, because living like this was no way to live.

* * *

After that night Jax really started to make a habit out of visiting her. It wasn't every night, but it was almost every night. They never really spoke and it was always the same routine, he would find her, they would find a room and just go to sleep. She thought he was starting to look a little better every time she saw him. The dark circles were still there, but now they were just moderately visible beneath his skin.

Sage was ok with this whole situation, she was making money and able to put some to the side, she even started hiding it in a second place around her house. It was the easiest money she had ever made. Since that second day, Jax didn't wake her up anymore. He would just put the money under her hand when he would leave.

Collette had been keeping her distance from Sage. She never really talked to her much and if she absolutely had to she used the least amount of words possible. Sage was more than ok with this. She imagined Jax must have said something to Collette for this sudden drastic change.

Someone else that was increasingly becoming her regular was Martin, or Mr. Paulsen. That's what she had to call him when she played his sick little game. Her concern was starting to grow about him though, it seemed that every time he would come he would try to push things a little further and further. He was getting braver by the day. If he pushed her too much further she was planning on bringing it to Collette's attention. She wasn't sure how that would go though, with Collette already hating her and also not wanting to jeopardize his business.

Carlos had been his same asshole self. He was controlling everything she did and showing up every other day after work to collect his money. He hadn't been very physical with her lately because she had been doing so well and for that she was grateful.

On this particular night she had already seen Mr. Paulsen and was annoyed by all the requests he had made. She was on the couch trying to gain another man's business when Jax came in again. She noticed he was walking tall, looking down at people without moving his head, a shadow of the confidence that he once had before his wife was killed. She caught herself smiling at the slight transformation she was starting to see, but stopped when he looked at her. He motioned for her to follow him. She could feel all the other girls eyes on her and she knew what they were thinking, she had heard the rumors going around over the past week. _If they only knew, it would make one boring story._

She followed Jax into the room they usually used and took her normal spot on the side of the bed. She made a habit of never looking at him once she was in the bed, she felt like that was crossing some line that shouldn't be crossed. She felt him get into the bed behind her.

Something was different with her tonight. She had the urge to talk to him, it was itching at her, like a child who couldn't sit still. She had spent several days sleeping with him and never saying anything. She knew he was just like any other client, she shouldn't get emotionally involved, and she wasn't, but knowing what he was going through and seeing the pain in his face, it was hard not to feel _something_. She tried her best to stay still and not talk, but she could tell by his movements that he hadn't fallen asleep either and that was only making her urge grow stronger.

Finally she just blurted out something, "You look a little better." She stiffened when she said it, what was she thinking, of course he wasn't "better". It wasn't the word she should have used.

"I'm sleeping more." He answered.

She tried not to talk again as she lay there very still and quiet, she knew it was better for him if she didn't talk at all.

"Should I even ask why you look like you're twelve tonight?"

She couldn't believe he spoke to her, especially to make small talk. She smiled when she thought about what she must look like to him. It was absolutely ridiculous how she did her hair and outfit tonight. The things she had done for Mr. Paulsen's business.

"It's for Mr. Paulsen, he's got a thing for young girls, it's pretty disturbing actually."

"That's fucked up."

"Yep."

It was quiet for a minute or two until Jax spoke to her again.

"Do you like this job?"

"No, not at all."

After that they both got quiet. Jax eventually fell asleep and Sage did too not much after.

* * *

"Hey Sage, come here," Niki called to her from across the room, even from this distance her lips were noticeable. Sage laughed to herself at her thoughts. She had just come in for the night and was going to put her things in back before she got to work. She walked over to her feisty coworker to see what she wanted.

"What's up?"

"Girl, I got some news, come in back with me," Niki squirmed, bubbling with excitement to get it all out.

Sage knew this would be gossip but she couldn't help but be intrigued by the way Niki was acting.

"So?" Sage asked when they got there.

"So…the cop was here for Collette again," Niki's expression was priceless and Sage had a hard time keeping her composure.

"Really."

"Yeah and the talk around here is, the cops are helping the Sons with the investigation for Tara's murder."

That was interesting, the cops never really _helped_ the Sons.

"And, apparently Collette _is_ a person of interest," Niki's eyes were wide, her face looking like she held the secrets to buried treasure, "What I've heard is that from the way that Tara died, they are definitely thinking it was a female who did it. Someone with something personal against her because of the rage and domestic qualities of it."

Now that was good information, Sage had never thought too much about it but it did make sense. "Do you really think Collette would do that?"

"I don't know, but I just wanted to give you a heads up, because if Collette thinks you're messing with Jax…."

"I'm not worried about Collette." She really wasn't, she wouldn't touch her here and if she tried to follow her home she'd be messing with Carlos. Even though he was an asshole, he still wouldn't let someone_ else _kill her.

"I also heard that Jax threatened her and that's why she's been out of your hair." Niki's fingers played with the hem of her shirt, she had so much energy it almost looked like she was on something.

"Threatened her about what?"

"I guess he feels bad about screwing around on Tara with her, because he said he'll never be with her again. And supposedly he told her if she bothers you she'll be looking for another job."

"Very interesting, aren't you the little information getterer."

"Is that even a word?"

"Don't think so but it sounded good."

"All the girls are talking around here. You are part of some MAJOR scandal. Aren't you excited?" Sage looked at her like she was crazy, "And for Jax to be all protective of you?"

"He's not being protective of me, he's protecting himself. Trust me, it has nothing to do with me."

"Awe don't sell yourself so short," Niki ran her fingers through a strand of Sage's hair.

"OK fine, believe whatever works for your scandal theory. It's much more interesting than reality anyway."

Sage pulled away and left to go out to work. Mr. Paulsen was already waiting for her when she got out there.

*****So, let me know what you think, good, bad, indifferent! I love knowing what you want, what you like and what I should change while I can! Thanks!*****


	6. Chapter 6

*****You guys are awesome, thanks for the reviews! And thanks for the guest reviews! I hope you like this chapter.*****

Sage cleaned herself up after her latest time spent with Mr. Paulsen. She was shaken up, things had progressed further and this time she could see that he was starting to take things too far.

It had started out like every other time. He would pretend that she was a young teenage girl and she would have to speak to him like he requested. She would have to call him Mr. Paulsen and if she did anything wrong he would spank her, a normal fantasy that some guys would have on occasion. But this time was different, he had started to spank her so hard that it _really_ hurt. He was also doing it much more than he had in the past. She could feel the bruises forming on her butt and upper thighs. But the worst part was, when they were doing the final act, he put his hand around her throat and pressed his fingers hard against it. It was a scary couple of minutes, he was choking her and getting off on it. When she had tried to remove his hand, he wouldn't, but he did slightly loosen his grip. He was trying to convince her that if she couldn't breathe it would feel better for her and that's when she knew he would only get worse next time. How far would he take it?

It never felt good for her, with any client. She would pretend it did, but she never felt anything. She would just focus on being who she needed to be and helping them finish, the quicker the better. Never did she feel anything except maybe some pain and friction and of course disgust. She was a pro at completely detaching herself from the situation.

But with this further development with Mr. Paulsen, she knew it was time to tell Collette. She didn't know if she would do anything about it because she hadn't in the past when girls would bring these types of things up, but maybe Collette could tell Nero and he would be able to address it. Maybe they could talk to Mr. Paulsen and let him know that he can't be taking things to this level. Or maybe they could get another girl who would be willing to do it, if there _was_ anyone. Whatever the outcome, Sage knew she wasn't taking it anymore. She had enough of that shit in her life.

Sage walked into Collette's office and found her sitting behind her desk, examining the books.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Sage asked as Collette looked up at her. Collette pulled her granny style bifocals down off her face and leaned back in her chair before answering.

"About?" She was obviously annoyed to have to speak with Sage at all.

"Mr. Paulsen."

"What now?" Like she ever bothered her about him before.

"I am not comfortable having him as a client anymore. He…"

"Let me stop you right there, you_ have _to have him as a client." Collette was pointing those ugly glasses in her direction as she tried to tell her what to do.

"Ok, well then I need you to take care of something for me."

"What?"

"He's starting to get a little out of control. Spanking and choking."

"Ha," Collette was smiling, "Of course. That's what these guys like. What? You can't handle it?"

Sage took a deep breath to keep her cool with the woman, "I know what normal is Collette. What he's doing isn't normal."

"Since when do you feel you can call the shots?" The wrinkles in the corners of her eyes were even more noticeable as she squinted tough at Sage.

"What? I'm not…"

"Yeah, I know why you have this new confidence, but it doesn't make a difference to me. You still have to follow the rules and you still have to respect your boss."

Seriously, she was a bitch, obviously referring to Jax. She was not able to do anything about it with him, but she could try to take it out on Sage. But Sage wasn't having it, she was going to make her deal with the shit with Mr. Paulsen, it was her job to keep them safe. She decided to try one more time in a "respectful" way, "I just need you to take care of this. He is actually hurting me Collette, if it was nothing I wouldn't even bring it up."

"Oh, is he hurting you?" Collette asked in her most obnoxious voice before changing it to something more sinister, "Because if he is, you better just suck it up. You are not paid to whi…" She froze, stopping mid-sentence and sat up straighter, her stare fixed on something behind Sage. Sage turned around and saw Jax entering the room with Nero right behind him.

"Don't let us interrupt anything," Jax said, leaning back against a table and folding his arms over his chest.

Collette just sat there with a nasty pout, angry that she was silenced.

"So, what's going on Collette?" Nero asked her.

"Nothing, Sage was just leaving."

Sage just looked at her, there was no way in hell she was going to leave right now.

"Sage? Don't you have a client or something?"

"No, I was talking to you about something I need you to take care of."

"What's going on baby?" Nero asked her. He had a calming way about him. Sage saw him throw Collette a look, telling her they overheard enough.

"I was telling Collette that I didn't want to have Mr. Paulsen as a client anymore. I know he's important, but he's starting to get a little too abusive."

"What?"

Sage looked at Collette who obviously wanted to rip her eyes out. She was shifting in her seat, on the brink of losing her overly confident demeanor.

"What is she talking about Collette?"

"She's just over reacting about the spanking that some men like to do. She's a diva, but Mr. Paulsen likes her and he is a _major_ client, someone we don't want to lose, it would be a _huge_ loss to the books."

"Over reacting?" Sage might actually hit her soon. She didn't notice herself making her way closer to Collette.

"Tell me what you mean," He told Sage as he grabbed her arm gently, pulling her back from heading towards Collette.

Sage paused, realizing what she did, before answering, "Trust me Nero, I'm not one to complain, but he has gotten worse each time, this last time he was hitting hard and choking me. I know that next time will be worse and I am not letting that happen."

Nero turned his attention back to Collette, "Since when do we think hitting and choking is ok?"

"I'll take care of it."

"We need to make sure the girls are safe around here Collette."

"She's not going with Mr. Paulsen anymore." Jax finally spoke. Sage glanced at him but he was staring at Collette. She was glad they were sticking up for her.

Collette was unnerved by Jax's intervention, "You aren't understanding, Mr. Paulsen brings in a LOT of money here and he only likes Sage. We're talking a good 20% of the profits."

Nero looked at Jax, obviously not wanting to lose a client that big. "So this is something we need to figure out. How to keep Mr. Paulsen and keep her safe as well."

"No, it's over. He'll pick someone else, guys like that don't just stop coming."

Collette sat there very annoyed. Probably more so that Jax was standing up for Sage then for the reality of them losing money.

"Jax, how about we take a walk and talk about this, maybe there's another option. For now Collette, Sage does not see Martin and we have to make sure we have something in place to protect _all_ the girls here," Nero said trying to make it all work, he turned to Sage, "You ok with this baby?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Ok, we will let you know what the outcome is, you can go back out there."

"Thank you," Sage replied, even though she didn't get a definite answer, she was happy that they heard her. They did need a safety plan in place here, it would make all the girls more comfortable as well. Sage felt good about it, empowered even. If she could stick up for herself here, why couldn't she with Carlos?

Later that night Jax found her and motioned her over like he always did. She looked at him in the eyes and for the first time really noticed how attractive he was. She always knew he was attractive, but she never found herself attracted to him. Maybe it was because they didn't make too much eye contact before or her ability to detach herself, or maybe it was the way he handled Collette. She didn't know, but she tried to push the thoughts from her mind anyway.

She took her spot on the bed and silently hoped that he would talk to her again. She could smell him as he came close behind her. He smelled so good, manly, rugged even. A smell you just wanted to get as close as you could too. _What the hell is wrong with you? _She thought to herself,_ First of all you are just a whore, who would even want you? Second of all you are a jerk for even thinking anything, his wife just died. Third of all, YOU'RE A JERK FOR EVEN THINKING ANYTHING…._

"You ok?"

She was shocked at his question and in the midst of yelling at herself it took her a minute too long to respond, "Yes, thanks for what you did."

"No problem." Silence.

"Are _you_ ok?" She cringed again, she knew better than to ask these questions but she couldn't help herself.

"Trying to be for my kids."

She didn't know what to say. She was so bad at this. So she just sat still.

"I'm starting to rethink my life." He kept talking.

_Me too_, she thought, "Like how?"

"I don't know, like re-prioritizing." She could tell by the sound of his voice and the movement of his body he had turned on his back. She tried to carefully chose her words and let him open up to her at his pace.

"That sounds like a good thing."

"Yeah, have some shit to deal with first though."

After a few minutes had passed, she felt him turn on his side back towards her, a rush of that smell coming back over her. _Why had she never noticed that before?_

"So what did Martin do to you?"

She waited a moment, not wanting to say too much and sound like a "diva". "He choked me, telling me it feels better when you can't breathe, he got pretty carried away with the spanking too."

She could feel his body tense behind her.

"Well you don't have to worry about him anymore."

"Yeah, thanks again for that."

A few awkward minutes passed.

"Why do you do this anyway?"

"I've been told it's the only thing I'm good at and I think it's true. Plus I have to bring home enough money…."

"Who told you that?"

"….just people."

He stopped talking after that. Sage just lay still, now with the thoughts of her crappy life swirling around in her head. But she was making a plan, she would make an escape, right? She felt him move and suddenly he put his arm around her side again. This time she was aware that he was still awake. The little gesture making her feel better. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

******Please let me know what you think (good or bad - I can take it!) , I appreciate it every time you review and it motivates me to write quicker :) Hopefully the next chapter will be longer.******


	7. Chapter 7

*****Ask and you shall receive! lol I tried to make this one longer and I might have jumped around a lot in the process, but I hope you like it anyway! I also read some of the reviews and decided to take things outside a little :) As always thanks for the reviews and follows!*****

"My, my, my, don't _you_ look happy," Carlos greeted her sarcastically as she came in the front door.

Kate tried to pretend that she thought he was serious. "I'm always happy to see you Carlos," She answered with a smile, handing him her cash and making a beeline towards their bedroom. She could feel him following her and she was nervous he would discover the extra money she had hidden inside her bra.

"Who is he?" He said coming up in her face, she could smell the alcohol on his breath and it was only 7:30 in the morning. She turned to look at him, her effort focused on keeping her face from reacting to him, "I've noticed you've been making a lot more lately, so who the hell is he?"

"I have a wealthy client, Collette says he brings in a lot of business so I have to make him happy."

"Is he making you happy too?" She wanted to look away from his face, his glare confrontational.

"No Carlos, not at all, he's a gross old man, _you_ make me happy."

"Maybe I should go have a chat with Collette and see what's really going on."

"Go ahead Carlos, I am telling you the truth." Something inside her turned though, Collette hated her right now and if she mentioned the other regular she had been seeing, well that would not go over very well.

"You better be or you won't like the consequences," He walked behind her and grabbed her around the throat with his hand. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from responding to his pressure, the area already tender from Mr. Paulsen.

"Of course baby," She said trying to diffuse him.

"You're his favorite whore?" He asked moving his other hand underneath her dress. To her slight relief, his right hand slid from her throat into her hair. She knew what was coming as he grabbed a fistful and twisted his fingers around the strands for leverage.

She managed to keep her composure as she braced herself, continuing to try, "Only because I look young, he's a real sicko."

He pulled her hair harshly and Kate closed her eyes, trying not to let a tear slip out.

"You're _my_ whore, remember that." He yanked again and pushed her forward onto their bed.

"I know baby, I thought you would be happy with the money, I did it for you." She could hear him unbuckling his pants and she tried once more to make him happy with her, "You're the only one I want Carlos."

"You want me?" He asked, pushing himself on top of her.

"Always," She lied. She closed her eyes. In that moment she thought about killing him. She had never thought about that before and it shocked her. This wasn't her, her thoughts went against everything she believed as a human being. She wouldn't even kill a spider that had made it's way into the house. And would it be worth the repercussions? Jail or even worse, retaliation from his boys? She had never hated someone so much in her life.

* * *

"Girl what the hell is going on?" Niki asked rushing over to her as she walked in for the night.

"What?" Sage asked walking over to a corner to talk a little quieter.

"Jax is yelling and I mean _yelling_ at Collette right now. All I can hear is Collette begging Nero to listen to her and saying that Jax went off the deep end."

Sage widened her eyes, he was yelling at her? Part of her wanted to smile that Collette was getting reamed. "Really." That was all she could come up with.

"Don't act like you don't know what this is about," Niki's hands were on her hips and she was tapping her foot impatiently, "I'm going to go do some more eavesdropping and get to the bottom of this."

Sage laughed at Niki for that, but she _was _curious what they were yelling about.

* * *

As Sage finished up with a client for the night, she noticed that she hadn't seen Jax at all. She had expected him to be around and wanting her to "help" him, especially after knowing he was there earlier. Part of her felt disappointed, but she wasn't sure why. She did know that she was probably getting spoiled with the easy money and she decided to not take it for granted.

She noticed Niki talking with Skyla and Yasmin and decided to wait to talk to her. She wanted to avoid the other girls, knowing they would take anything she had to say and blow it out of proportion. But Niki spotted her and came running over.

"What's up?" Sage asked her.

"Oh my God I have to…."

As Niki started, the front door opened and the two women turned to see who it was. That same woman cop who had been visiting Collette came strolling in dressed in regular clothes, followed by two other police officers in uniform. All the girls started scrambling, assuming they were there for them. The three cops headed straight for the staircase and up to Collette's office, not paying anyone else any attention. They all stood still, careful to be silent, in an effort to see if they were able to hear anything that was being said. After ten minutes or so had passed, Nero came in the front door looking very concerned. He quickly glanced around at all the girls before going up to Collette's office too.

"They're here for her." Niki whispered loudly in Sage's ear. Sage couldn't believe it, Collette was really capable of murdering Tara? "That's what he was yelling at her about."

"What?" _And he didn't kill her?_ "You have to tell me…."

The three cops came out of Collette's office with Collette in tow. Nero walked behind them, following them all the way outside and stopping at the sidewalk to talk to one of the police officers. The women all rushed to the windows to watch what was happening on the other side. Collette straightened out her skirt before climbing into the female officer's car. Nero finished up with one of the other officers and they left in their patrol car. Nero turned around and headed back inside, his head was lowered, as if he was studying the cracks on the walkway. The girls quickly left their spots as he approached and tried their best to look busy as he came through the doors.

"She's just going down for some routine questioning," He called out, trying to squash the rumors that were forming in their heads. "I'll be here if anyone needs anything." He said before going back up to Collette's office.

"What the hell Niki?" Sage asked her, shocked at the developments.

"I was trying to tell you girl."

"So tell me!"

"Ok, what I heard was Jax threatening Collette. He said if he finds out she had anything to do with Tara's murder he will kill her."

"Oh my God, this shit is real." Sage couldn't believe everything that was happening.

"It's been real girl. Ask Jax. He _found_ his wife."

"I know, I guess it…it just hadn't been so...in my face…."

"Maybe you could ask Jax when he's here." Niki said acting hopeful.

"Are you crazy? No way, I would never bring that up."

"Just a thought."

* * *

Collette never returned that night and Sage was fine with that for a number of reasons. Niki had told her that Mr. Paulsen had shown up when she was in with another client and he had left after Nero had spoken to him. She was happy that it seemed to be being taken care of.

A few days had gone by and Sage didn't see either Jax or Collette. She was happy for a break from Collette, but she had to admit she kind of missed seeing Jax. She had gotten off of work at 3 and was happy to be able to sleep until 8 when Carlos woke her up to tell her what he needed her to do for the day.

"You have to pick the kids up from their mom's houses at 2:00." He had said. There was something really wrong with how that sounded. "Before that you have to go to the grocery store, get what we need and pick up these things for me." He shoved a list down her shirt before leaving.

"Ok," she replied groggily. As soon as Carlos went to work, she went back to sleep.

She woke up around 10 and took care of some things around the house before showering and getting herself ready for the day. Carlos rarely let her go out, she figured he must have really needed her to get the kids today or he would have never let her. She looked around for something to wear. It was hard to find something that wasn't made of spandex or super short and tight. She finally found a pair of nice fitting jeans and a white v-neck tee shirt. It felt so good to be dressed comfortable for once. She slipped on some silver flip flops and headed to the bathroom to brush her hair. She decided to keep that simple too and threw it up in a pony tail, sweeping her long bangs to the side. She brushed just a little bit of mascara on her green eyes and dabbed some clear lip gloss across her lips and she was ready to go. _That girl looks familiar, _she thought to herself, grinning at her reflection. She looked good, almost presentable. If you met Kate on the street you would never know what she did for a living. She felt more confident that when she finally broke free of Carlos she would be able to start the life she always wanted somewhere else. Somewhere that no one would recognize her. She smiled, catching herself humming as she got her things together.

When Kate pulled up to the grocery store she glanced at her silver watch. 12:24. She got out and started to go into the store when she noticed the park across the street. It had been so long since she had been there. She used to go there with her grandparents as a kid to feed the ducks in the pond. She loved to swing on the swings, pretending she was flying in the sky, she remembered the tingling feeling her belly would get. As a teen she would hang out on the merry go round with her friends and maybe smoke a cigarette or do something really crazy and rebellious like smoke a joint. She smiled at the memories and glanced at her watch again. She decided to take a walk through the park and enjoy some of the summer sun before she had to go in the grocery store, she had some extra time, why not use it?

She walked along the sidewalk that bordered the pond. She could hear the clicking of her shoes and feel the heat on her skin. A fountain sprayed high in the middle of water and it misted her slightly when the wind shifted. She rounded the pond towards the other side and noticed some ducks swimming away from her as if she had scared them by her presence. As she came around the other side of the pond she could see the playground and hear the happy screams of the kids playing. She decided to sit at a park bench and watch for a few minutes before she had to go and run her errands.

She smiled watching them on the slides, running up and down the stairs and across the jiggly bridges. She laughed to herself, she must look like such a weirdo hanging out at a playground with no kids with her.

The sun was high in the sky by this time and it seemed to be beating down directly on top of her. She pulled her purse into her lap to dig inside for a pair of sunglasses to escape the brightness.

"Hey." she heard a voice greet someone but didn't think it was for her as she kept digging in her bottomless bag. She felt the wooden slats she was sitting on bend as someone sat down beside her.

"I thought that was you." She looked up and was surprised to see Jax, and here of all places, "It _is _you right?"

She finally found her voice and managed to answer him, "Hi."

"Good, I was starting to think you had a twin or something."

"I haven't seen you around in a while," She said to him, everything seemed to be sinking in extremely slow.

"I had to go out of town for a few days."

"Are you here with your kids?"

"Yeah," he pointed to a little blond boy screaming and running around playing with some other kids, which made her smile. "That one's mine too, he will probably need another push in a few."

She followed his gaze to see a brown haired toddler in a kiddie swing which was quickly slowing down, threatening to come to a complete stop. The boy inside seemed oblivious to the change.

She laughed, "Very cute."

"Do you have kids?" He asked her, she noticed how alive his eyes looked, the color of them sparkling in the sunlight. She could tell how happy they made him.

"No, I was going to the grocery store and thought I'd walk through. I haven't been here for a while."

He smiled slightly at her which caught her off guard, "I'll be right back." He went over to the smaller boy and gave him a couple of big pushes before coming back.

"That should keep him busy for a while," He laughed. She couldn't get over how good he looked. "You look different, I almost didn't recognize you."

"Yeah, well…." What was she supposed to say to that? I'm not whoring myself out at the moment?

"You look nice." She thought she felt herself blush but knew that couldn't be happening. She quickly slipped her sunglasses on and peeked sideways at him. He was leaning forward, elbows on his knees and playing with a ring on his hand. He was smiling and he glanced back at her. She quickly turned her gaze away and back to the playground.

"No buddy, don't climb on that," Jax stood up and called out to his older son who was trying to climb on top of the cover over the slide. "He's a little risk taker."

Kate smiled at the irony.

"Thomas is the serious one, just like his mother," Jax said before growing quiet. Kate looked at the smaller boy as he dangled slowly in the swing. He was just quietly sitting, observing all the other kids and perfectly content.

"It must be amazing to have them," she said.

"Daddy!" The older boy came running over, his face was sweating along the path where his hair met his face.

"Yeah bud?"

"Can we get ice cream? The ice cream truck is here." He was out of breath from all the running he had been doing.

"Sure, go play a few more minutes first."

"Ok." The boy ran back to his new friends.

Kate suddenly felt like she was intruding on something she shouldn't be. She glanced at her watch and realized the time. "I have to get going." She said standing up.

"Ok," he said standing too, "Will you be around later?"

"Yeah," She answered. But what did he need her for anymore? He looked like he was doing just fine on his own.

******Hope you guys liked it and are still here with me! Always love to hear from you. If there's anything you don't like, please let me know! I want to hear your opinions!******


	8. Chapter 8

*****Sorry for the delay updating, I was a little stuck with this one! Thanks for the reviews, the new reviewers, and the loyal ones! You guys are great and I appreciate the feedback.*****

The day dragged on, tiringly long and she couldn't wait for it to finally be over. The kids were especially hyper and not listening at all to Kate. She couldn't wait to get out of there, away from Carlos, away from his kids, away from Collette and everything else in her crappy life. She went into her closet, pretending to look for something to wear and counted up her money again, trying to give herself just one ray of hope.

She heard the front door open and quickly rushed to hide the money, careful to put it in two separate spots, feeling it was more safe like that. Once the money was hidden she decided to focus on really getting ready for the night. Tired and worn out from watching Carlos's out of control kids, she decided to tone it down a little with a black dress and some light make up. Maybe she wouldn't have to work as hard if she didn't look so great. She felt defeated, but why? She was actually getting somewhere for once.

* * *

"Sage!" Niki called out as she came in for the night. This woman always seemed to be brimming with news every time she saw her.

"Hey," Sage flashed her a light smile as she made her way towards the back to put her things down.

"Just wanted to warn you that Collette's back."

"What?" Her head snapped around at that, "How?"

"Apparently they cleared her after the first night of questioning and then she just took a few days off for herself."

"Great, so she'll probably be up our asses all night."

"Exactly."

"Guess I'll get to work then." She sighed as she put her bag down. _So much for a little break._

Sage went about her night, only putting in half the effort, except for when Collette was lurking. The men were all a blur to her, but she was making decent money. Every time she would get a little down time between clients, she would catch herself wondering where Jax was. She realized she was starting to associate him with some kind of relief. She hated everything about her life.

"Mr. Paulsen is here for you." Niki whispered quietly for once, catching Sage off guard while she was enjoying one of her quiet moments.

"No way, that's not happening."

"Collette just asked me to find you, she already showed him to the room," Her friend looked sorry to be delivering the news.

"I'll have to take this up with her then, because there is no way in hell…." Sage took a deep breath and prepared to fight Collette to the end on this and headed upstairs.

"I'm not seeing Mr. Paulsen," She snapped as she barged into Collette's office.

"Yes you are or you will be looking for a new job," The stupid bitch had her fighting face on too.

"Nero said that I didn't have to," Sage's words coming out sounding like a spoiled little child, she cringed hearing them from her own lips.

"Stop bitching and get in there. Things have changed since then and you'll be fine," Collette said getting up from behind her desk and walking towards her.

"I'm not going Collette."

"Ok then get your things and leave." Collette stood there with her hand on her hips, her face was practically begging Sage to take her offer.

Sage thought about it for a second. She obviously couldn't leave and she didn't want to give her the satisfaction of pushing her out either. "If he touches me Collette, I am coming after you." Collette's face seemed to respond to that, twitching slightly as she tried to keep up her tough demeanor, _good_. She turned to go serve out her night's sentence and bumped into Niki lurking on the other side of the doorway.

"I know you were eavesdropping," Sage told her, throwing her a look.

"Just looking out for my friend, that's all."

"Is that so? Well then you can do me a favor, if Nero shows up tell him where I am."

"Sure thing."

Sage took a deep breath and went to face the man who was eagerly awaiting her. As she entered she thought she even heard him moan with anticipation, already creeping her out with his behavior.

"There's my good girl." He greeted her, "I see you are dressed pretty grown up today."

"Yes Mr. Paulsen." She answered. It was going to be really hard to do this. She had no more patience for the man.

"I've missed you." He said, smiling at her like only a pedophile could do.

"I've missed you too."

He reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled something out but she wasn't able to see exactly what it was. "I brought you a present."

She looked at him, very hesitant to find out what he would think was a present.

"Aren't you going to ask what it is?" He asked.

"What did you bring me?" She asked him, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Well Sage, since I haven't seen you in quite a while, and since you are always such a good girl when I do, I bought you these," He opened his hand and she could see two red ribbons. She looked up at him confused, he had to be fucking kidding her, was she supposed to fake excitement for this?

"Wow Mr. Paulsen, what are those?"

"These are two beautiful ribbons for your hair."

"Oh," She forced a small smile, "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome Sage. I thought that I could brush your hair and make two braids. Then I can tie a nice big bow at the ends of them."

This guy was nuts and Sage knew it, but was it anything to be concerned about? How harmless was letting him braid her hair?

"Feel the satin these are made of," He said, pulling her hand close to touch the ribbons, "They are 2 inches wide, and will be very long even after I tie them."

"They're beautiful. Thank you so much Mr. Paulsen."

"You're so welcome my little Sage," He walked over to the bed and sat down on it, patting an area on the comforter near him, "Come sit with me."

She smiled and walked over to him, noticing he was taking out a small black comb from that same pocket.

"Turn around," He said as she sat next to him. She turned so that her back faced him and could hear the heaviness of his breathing.

"Is it alright if I hum you a little song while I brush your hair?"

"Of course, that would be nice." She imagined that by now all of the hairs on her body were standing straight up. How could this guy be such a great businessman, practically owning a third of Charming and be so ... was there even a word for it?

He started humming a familiar lullaby and combing her hair slowly. He used the comb to form a part in the middle of her hair, taking his time to go through each strand, starting at the top of her head and combing down to the very ends. When he was finally finished he had separated her hair into two even parts. She thought she might lose her mind if she had to hear him hum that song again, but he kept repeating it over and over like he was stuck in some warped loop.

After what seemed like an eternity he had made his two braids and tied the ribbons around the bottoms of them. He had tied and untied the bows several times to make sure they looked perfect. He stood up to admire his work and she thought he might need a new pair of pants the way he was staring at her.

"You look so pretty," He whispered. Sage started to think that it might be time to call it a night with him. He was getting a little too weird for her. Scratch that, he had been too weird for her the entire time.

She opened her mouth to suggest they wrap it up, but he kept talking, "Turn around so I can feel the braids." He slid up behind her on the bed, his hands grasping at them like they were made of gold.

"Mr. Paulsen, maybe we should stop here." Sage said turning to look at him.

"What do you mean? No... we just got started."

"Well I was hoping I could wear the ribbons home and you could think about me. Then the next time you see me I'll be wearing them. It might give you something to look forward to," She said hoping he would take the bait.

"No Sage, you better listen to me, you don't want to be a bad girl do you?"

"Of course not."

"Good, now turn back around." He said grabbing both of her braids in his hands again. He started humming that same song and Sage thought it was about time to run out of there.

"Mr. Paulsen, would it be ok if I used the bathroom?" She asked, looking for a way to escape that wouldn't alarm him.

"Now Sage, you are starting to be a very bad girl."

"No, I want to be good, I just need to use the bathroom."

"Stay still and be a good listener."

"But Mr. Paulsen…."

"I said stay still!" He shouted in her ear causing Sage to be on high alert. Hopefully someone else had heard him shout. She was trying to think of her quickest way out. She went to stand up and he pulled her back down by the hold he had around her braids. "You aren't listening to me." He growled into her ear.

"Mr. Paulsen, you're hurting me."

"Good, you have been a very bad girl." Now Sage was trying to pull herself away. At this point he was only going to get worse. She tugged her hair until it was almost out of his grip. He climbed onto the bed more and shoved his knee into her back, pushing her face first toward the comforter.

"Mr. Paulsen you need to stop!" Sage shouted at him, knowing someone had to hear.

"Be quiet!" He was on top of her from behind, his hand took its place behind her head to keep her from turning it to scream out. She could see him moving his other hand and tried to turn as best as she could, determined to get away.

"Stop it you little brat," He pushed her head harder into the mattress. All she could see was Collette's face and her hands strangling the bitch. She went to kick her legs up towards his butt when one of the ribbons slid around her neck. She started to panic as he tightened it and yanked her back towards him.

"Now you will learn your lesson," He chuckled into her ear, her fingers gripped at the ribbon on her neck, trying to loosen it so she could breathe. He circled the other ribbon on top of it, loosening his hold for just a second, but it was enough. Sage gasped for air and gave out the biggest shriek she could manage. Still no one seemed to come and now Mr. Paulsen was really angry. _Where's Niki?_ He pulled with all his might and she thought her neck would snap, no air was getting in anymore. She was panicking and moving around any way she could.

Suddenly she heard the door kick in and relaxed, giving up her struggle. Sage felt his weight get lifted off of her and she collapsed into the bed letting the oxygen find it's way back inside of her.

"Sage? Sage, you ok?" It was Jax shouting at her, she turned her head and saw him with his elbow around Mr. Paulsen's neck.

"Yes," She answered quietly.

"Niki, get her out of here," He yelled to Niki who was standing in the doorway shocked at everything that was happening. Niki came over and helped her up off of the bed. Sage could hear Mr. Paulsen whimpering.

Niki led Sage out into the hallway and closed the door. "Oh my God girl, are you alright?"

"Yes," She answered, still trying to catch her breath, "I knew I shouldn't have gone in there. He's so fucked up." They heard some banging noises from inside the room and Niki's eyes widened.

"Let's get you cleaned up," Niki said leading her towards the bathroom. Sage didn't need to be cleaned but she figured Niki didn't want her dealing with any more shit. She rubbed her neck where the ribbon had been and all of a sudden remembered Collette.

"Where's Collette?" Sage asked stopping in the hallway, suddenly full of intense energy. She could feel the adrenaline coursing it's way through her veins down to her hands.

"No Sage..." Niki started.

"No what? He could have fucking killed me! I need to find her." Sage broke away from Niki and started moving quickly towards Collette's office, her swift strides turning into a jog and then a rapid sprint. She could hear Niki running behind her, having difficulty because of her heels. But it didn't take long until she didn't hear her at all, only her heart pounding inside of her. She got to Collette's office but she wasn't in there, she turned to find her, wherever she was, and bumped into Nero's chest.

"Are you ok?" He asked her, concern showing in his furrowed eyebrows.

"I'm looking for Collette, have you seen her?"

"Nero, Collette made her go in with Mr. Paulsen, now Jax is in there!" Niki sputtered out breathlessly.

"What?" He turned to look at Sage, "Stay here ok?" He didn't even wait for her answer as he ran towards the room Jax was in with Mr. Paulsen.

Niki came up to her and pushed her inside Collette's office, closing the door behind her.

"You need to calm down," She stared into Sage's eyes as she pinned her arms down to her sides. "They are taking care of this for you. Trust me Collette will have hell to pay."

"You're right, she will, with me. I kept screaming, I hoped you would come in." Her words spilled out randomly.

"Collette made me deal with another client, I think she was trying to distract me."

"I'm going to kill that bitch."

The door opened and it was Collette. She stopped in her tracks, apparently not expecting to see Sage inside waiting for her. Sage lunged towards her, her hands reaching out for her neck but Niki stopped her by wedging her body in between theirs.

"Niki, move, I'm going to kill this bitch." Sage said again to drive her point home.

"You're not killing anyone Sage."

Sage could see fear in Collette's eyes as she was slowly moving her way backwards out the open door. Sage huffed out an apology to Niki as she plowed through her and punched Collette right in her eye, sending her falling back towards the corner of the door.

"You stupid cu…" But Sage didn't give her the opportunity to finish, she jumped on top of her, only for a split second but enough to get her good again. Nero's arms wrapped around her body as he pulled her away from Collette, her hands still flailing through the air, searching for their victim. The rage Sage was seeing started to clear as she heard Nero's voice.

"Calm down girl."

She went into the hallway and started to cry, overwhelmed with everything that had happened.

"Sage," she looked up and saw Jax looking at her, "Come on, let's get you out of here."

******Ok so that was a rough one, meaning I was kind of stuck with where to go...I know where I'm headed just having trouble getting there! Let me know what you think!******


	9. Chapter 9

*****Thanks everyone for the reviews! I LOVE them, they make me want to write quicker! I also love all the guest reviews, it's awesome that you guys want to reach out and let me know what you think, even though you don't have to! But I hope you keep doing it because it helps me more than you know!*********

Kate followed Jax outside and wondered what the hell she was even doing. But before she knew it she was behind him on his motorcycle and speeding away. There was so much going on in her head that it seemed impossible to even form a single thought. They drove for a little while before stopping at a 24 hr diner, the only thing that appeared to be open in Charming at 2am besides a gas station and some bars.

Jax led her inside and waved hello to a waitress who smiled a goofy smile back at him. He sat down in the first booth he saw and looked up at Kate so that she would join him. The smell of coffee hit her nose as she slid into the booth and turned, seeing the waitress right behind her with the pot in her hand. She slid them a couple of menus and placed two white coffee mugs on the table, filling them up.

"I'll give you two a minute to look." She said before walking back behind her counter. Kate looked around the diner and noticed they were the only ones in there. She turned her gaze back to Jax only to find him staring intently at her.

"You should get the apple pie, it's good here," He said with a small smirk. She raised an eyebrow at him before looking down at her menu. Everything about the night was so bizarre. Were they really in a diner talking about pie right now? And was she, not even an hour ago, finding herself with a ribbon wrapped around her neck being choked by an insane man?

Jax waved over the waitress and told her to bring them two slices of pie. Kate had no idea what he was doing or thinking for that matter. Her attention was drawn to his hands. He was playing with a ring on one of them and she could see the cuts and redness on his knuckles. She looked back up to catch him staring again so she glanced away, pretending she didn't notice.

"After this I'll take you home ok?"

"No!" She blurted out too fast.

He sat back, trying to read her. "Why's that?"

"I have to get my purse and my car, I left them at work," She said trying to hide the real reason.

He sat there studying her and she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "Thanks for everything Jax, I am so grateful you came in when you did," She had wanted to thank him, owing him so much by his intervention.

"I'm confused why you were even in there."

"Collette told me I had to or it was my job."

She could see the anger crossing his face, "We had made it very clear to her that you weren't to be with him."

"I don't know, but I'm thankful you came. That was some really scary shit," Kate said, hoping he saw her sincerity.

"You got Collette pretty good too," He smiled as he said that.

"Yeah, I'm sure I'll be fired now," Kate thoughtlessly palmed the warm mug in her hand.

"Would that be so bad?"

"It would be bad, I have to make a certain amount of money or…"

"Or what?"

"I just do. How is everything going with you?" She looked up at him and asked, trying to change the subject.

"You really want to go back there after what happened?" He asked, ignoring her attempt. She really didn't.

"What did you do to Mr. Paulsen?" She asked, making her second stab at trying to control the conversation.

"He understands now, without any question, to stay out of there. He didn't seem to take the hint when Nero had talked to him," He was giving her the quick version obviously, she looked at him skeptically and he answered her unspoken question, "Don't worry, he won't be back."

"It bothers me that he's out there at all, he's really fucked up Jax, he would have killed me, who knows what he could do to someone else."

She saw some sort of emotion flash across his face but couldn't put her finger on it. "I have a plan for Mr. Paulsen, I just need a little time," Jax gave her a confident look.

She trusted what he was saying even though she didn't really understand it. The waitress, staring at him with a smile the entire time, brought over their slices and refilled Jax's coffee. Kate still hadn't touched hers.

"I'll be over there if you need anything," She said to Jax, giving him a wink.

"Thanks darlin," He responded with a small smile and Kate wondered if there was anyone he couldn't get.

"How are you doing with everything?" She tried again to talk to him, feeling a little confident after the craziness of the night.

To her surprise he answered her, "I'm frustrated that I don't know who did it."

She looked at him, trying to think of what to say, now that he was opening up she wasn't sure how to navigate it.

"It's personal and I know it," He kept going, "I moved my kids somewhere safe while I can sort everything out. I'm still trying to figure out what I need to do."

"That's good that your kids are safe," She said, still unsure of what to tell him.

"I hope I find him before the cops do."

"What about the club?" She asked, noticing he didn't say we at all. She knew the basics of a club or gang or whatever it was and she knew that they should be behind him, helping him take care of this.

"I don't know." She remembered him telling her about his priorities, she figured he probably didn't trust anyone at this point. But who were the kids with? He must trust _someone_.

She tried to eat the pie, he was right it _was _good. But she really wasn't hungry, still shaken up from the episode with Mr. Paulsen. How was she ever going to go back to work there? She had really had enough and nothing screamed get the hell out of there like what had happened tonight. She was done with people abusing her, she knew that by the way she attacked Collette. She had finally been pushed too far and someone she didn't even know she could be had been unleashed. She stabbed at the crust with her fork and tried to figure out if the money she had already saved could possibly be enough.

"Not hungry?"

"Not really."

He slid her plate over in front of him and started eating her mutilated pie. She continued to think about Carlos and how it was time to finally leave him too, probably even more so then her job. Maybe in the morning when he goes to work she would drive to the bus station and buy a ticket to God knows where. She would figure it out when she got there. Carlos for sure would go down there and threaten to know where she had headed, but at least by then she'd have 7 or 8 hours on him.

"You ok?" She glanced up and saw Jax studying her again. He seemed very focused on finding out what was up with her.

"Yeah, just rattled that's all."

"How about I take you back for your stuff and then I follow you home?" His eyes were searching hers for an answer, but this time she didn't react as quick.

"You don't have to follow me home, I'll be fine." _Please just say ok and drop it. _

"I don't have to but I'm going to. I want to make sure you're ok after everything you went through tonight."

She tried to think of some excuse, but his face looked determined. He wasn't going to take no for an answer. Maybe she could drive to a different address and fake going in…no he'd probably wait to watch her go inside. She was so screwed.

"Do you have a boyfriend or something?"

"It's complicated."

"Alright, I'll take you to get your stuff though, I know you don't want to go back in there alone."

"Thanks," She said smiling at him. He really was a strange kind of sweet.

As they went back out to his bike, Kate waited for him to hand her his helmet and she hugged him, thinking that was the best way to show him she was thankful for what he did, basically saving her life. But as soon as she did it, she instantly regretted it. His smell, the way his body fit next to hers, the way he felt under her hands….she realized she was lingering and thought about pulling back.

"Thanks again, I mean it," She said in his ear, trying to cover that she was enjoying it way too much. He pulled back a little to look at her, both of their arms falling to their sides. It was dark outside but there was enough light coming from the outside of the building that she could see his features. His face remained close to hers and she started feeling nervous.

"I'm sorry you were even there." He answered, looking into her eyes with that same intent stare, she saw his eyes look downward and she wondered if he was looking at what she wanted him to be looking at. Scared, she turned to put the helmet on her head.

"Me too," She threw him a small smile and quickly buckled the chin strap. He smiled back but seemed to realize it was a bad idea too, turning to get on his bike. She got on behind him, wrapping her arms around his stomach. She didn't notice before how good it felt. She tried to push the thoughts from her mind though, determined to leave town in the morning forever. But could she? After what he had done for her? After what he had been through? Could she leave without even telling him? Why not, there was nothing going on between them, except maybe a small friendship developing. It was better this way anyway. He was focused on justice for his wife, he didn't need her distracting him with her client drama.

But for one quiet moment, riding along with the air whipping circles around her, she got a glimpse at what was possible in her life. A life of freedom, a life of choices and the feeling that she might be good enough for someone to actually care about.

******This one's a little shorter, sorry about that, but I wanted to keep it drama free for at least one chapter of the story. And when I don't have drama, I don't know what to write :) Please let me know, good, bad, ugly, crazy whatever!******


	10. Chapter 10

*****Chapter 10 already? Wow and I still have so much to go! Hope you guys hang in there with me! Thank you as always for the reviews. And to my secret guest reviewers who seem pretty loyal to the story - thank you so much! I have no way of emailing you back and I love reading your comments. It is definitely fun to write something like this and I hope I can keep it interesting for you guys!*****

Going back to Collette's was perfectly uneventful. Collette kept herself locked up in her office so Sage didn't have to worry about running into her and the possibility of being arrested for attempted murder. That pretty much summed up how much she hated the wench at this point. Jax had gone with her just as he had promised and he stayed the entire time that she was gathering up her things, even going so far as to walk her back out to her car. He had asked her if she would be coming back. Her heart had flipped at the way he smiled at her, almost like he _wanted_ to see her again. She felt conflicted, like maybe she was betraying him somehow. She told him she hadn't made her mind up about work yet and he said that he would help her find something else if she wanted. She didn't know what she had ever done to deserve a friend like that and she felt guilty lying to him at all.

But still, even with the guilt she felt and even with all the terribleness that she had gone through the night before, Kate had a smile on her face as she drove the short drive home from work. What Jax had done for her was something she could never repay and something he certainly didn't have to do, pretty much saving her life by being there at the right time. And the gesture of taking her away and making sure everything was ok, the concern he had when he had so many other, more important things to worry about. There was something about him that made her happy, that gave her more hope in life. The irony of that didn't escape her when she thought about all that he had lost.

She caught herself humming as she made a left to go down her street. Leaving was starting to feel bittersweet the more she thought about it, it was something she knew that she had to do but part of her wondered what it would be like if she stayed.

At almost 4:00 am, Kate's street was still completely dark. She switched her high beams on to be able see the road better. She smiled when she started to feel hungry, remembering Jax eating her pie that she had grossly dissected. As she approached her driveway, she turned her high beams off, noticing that all the lights were on inside her house. Her humming stopped as she wondered what could possibly be going on. Had Carlos gone out to take care of some business, just getting home now? Hopefully he hadn't gone to Collette's looking for her. She sat in her car for a minute, trying to decipher if going in was the right move. She ultimately figured she would play it cool and see what was going on, maybe it was only nothing. She just had to get through tonight and she was home free, literally.

She cautiously walked through the front door and could hear the sound of the TV blaring from the other room.

"Carlos?" She called out. He didn't answer her and she made her way through the foyer and into the living room. Carlos was sitting on the couch, stone faced and glaring hard into hers. But he didn't say anything. Something inside her immediately started to panic.

"Carlos, is everything alright?" She asked, not sure what it could be but trying to sound innocent anyway.

"No," He answered as he stood up, wiping his hands on his shirt.

"Why, what's the matter?" She had the feeling that something very bad was about to happen and she wasn't sure how to get out of it.

"Well, I was looking for my other work shoe in the closet and I found this." He pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket. Kate's heart dropped out of her chest. He was going to fucking kill her and she was never escaping now. He walked up close to her face and shook the money under her nose, "Why would there be money hidden in our closet Kate?"

"Oh my God you found it," She tried to think of a quick lie, "I had forgotten to give you the money one day so I put it in the closet so the kids wouldn't get a hold of it and…"

"Don't fucking lie to me," He grabbed her by her hair and dragged her towards their bedroom, not even giving her the opportunity to respond to him.

"Carlos, please, I'm telling you the truth, I wanted to surprise you with the extra money I made," She pleaded with him, hoping it would work, only needing to make it through one more night.

She pleaded as much as she could until his fist landed on her one last time, finally silencing her.

* * *

Kate groaned, a searing pain radiating throughout her body, coming from her ribs. She tried to open her eyes, but only the right one opened, which frightened her. She gently brushed her fingers over her face, feeling how swollen it was, especially on the left side. Moving her lips, she could sense they were split open, the taste of dried up blood all over them. She turned her head and was suddenly aware that she was laying on the floor of her closet. It was dark and quiet and she strained her ears to see if she could hear anything from outside the tiny room.

She cried out involuntarily as she struggled to sit up, more pain running over her like electricity. How long had she been here? She could tell she was beat up bad, but she was still alive.

She sat for a long while, leaning her back against the wall. She figured by the silence that it was day time by now and Carlos had left for work. If she could just get herself to the handle on the door, maybe she could still get away. After pacing herself for a few minutes of trying, she was able to get onto her knees and brace herself against the wall, pulling herself to stand up. Once she was able to stand up straight, the pain didn't seem as bad as she had initially thought. She felt like she might be ok to walk. Hopefully she could make it to the car and would be able to drive. She turned the light switch on inside the closet, noticing first that her vision was limited, and second he had ransacked the entire closet obviously looking for more money. Remembering she had hidden the rest of the money in the toes of a pair of boots, she felt inside and found it was all still there. She pulled it out and stuffed it into the waistband of her panties. She reached for the knob and it opened without any resistance.

Kate shakily walked into the bedroom, only to find it empty. She was eager to get to the bathroom and see herself in the mirror. She was horrified at the reflection that was staring back at her. Her face so swollen, her eye was just a tiny slit. She retrieved a cloth and using warm water, gently dabbed it on her face to wipe away the blood. After she was done she looked a little bit better.

She opened the door and made her way to the living room, panic rushed over her as she saw Carlos sitting on the couch.

"Well look who decided to finally get up," Carlos said smiling at her. She stood there frozen, scared for her life and regretting shoving the remaining money in her pants. "Well don't just stand there, fix me some dinner."

How was she going to fix him dinner feeling like she was? And how could he sit there smiling? She hated him more than she ever hated anyone.

Kate went into the kitchen and searched for some medicine for her pain. She took the pills with some water and prayed they would bring her immediate relief. She thought about taking a knife and hiding it on her somewhere, but after opening a drawer she realized he had taken them all out. Discouraged, she opened the refrigerator to see what was the easiest thing that she could make him. She saw a box of butter sticks and tipped one out, pulling the money from her pants and shoving it inside before putting the butter back on top of it. There was no way he would ever find it there. He never made himself anything.

She made him his awful dinner. Thinking the whole time of a new way out. He hadn't gone to work and she wasn't sure if he would be going back any time soon. Maybe when he slept she could leave. But if he caught her…..

After he ate he let her eat something. When she was cleaning up the kitchen he came in to tell her what _his_ plan was, startling her causing her to jump with his presence.

"You can't go to work looking like that," He said, coming close to her face.

She didn't respond, but this was one time she _wanted_ to go to work.

"You should be pretty decent after a couple of days and you can go back. It will hurt us, but I know you will work longer hours until you can make it up, right?"

"Yes Carlos."

"When you're done cleaning up I want you in the bedroom," He ordered, going back to his wretched couch.

She cringed knowing what she would have to do, painfully aware that her ribs were bruised, if not broken. Why did she even get off the closet floor?

Carlos did his usual thing to her. Pushing down with all his body weight and hurting her more than she thought she would even be able to bear. She was forced to keep herself from reacting to the pain in order to spare herself any further rage from him. When he was finally done, he threw a pillow and blanket into the closet and made her sleep in there on the floor. He shut the light off and slammed the door, not even giving her time to use the bathroom or clean up. All of the hope that she had experienced for a few hours with Jax the day before had vanished. There was no easy way out of this mess. Why was she even still alive? Just to be abused more? She crumbled onto the carpet and her tears began to silently spill as she started to accept the reality she had been given.

******Let me know what you think! The next chapter will be up very soon!******


	11. Chapter 11

*****I couldn't keep you guys waiting! I hope you like it! Thanks again for all of the reviews and guest reviews...you motivated me to write this quick!*****

Kate heard someone knocking at the door and peeked through the blinds on the windows to try and see who it was. She strained her head, unable to see anyone so she went to go sit back down, figuring it was a couple of kids just messing around. But as soon as she sat back down she heard the knocking again.

"Get the fucking door!" Carlos yelled from the bathroom.

As much as she didn't want to get the door, not wanting anyone to see her face, she was scared to deal with him again. She had been lucky enough that he had left her alone for the last couple of days. Her ribs were feeling a little better, only really hurting when she coughed or sneezed. The swelling on her face had subsided and she was now able to see out of both eyes, but there was some bruising and cuts still evident which she tried her best to hide under makeup.

She opened the door and came face to face with Jax. What the hell was he doing here? She saw the expression on his face change from concern to confusion to anger and she regretted her decision to answer it in the first place.

"What happened to you?" He asked.

"You should really leave," She answered. She wanted him to go and right away. With Carlos's arsenal of weapons inside, he could leave Jax's boys fatherless within seconds.

He just stood there, studying her face, looking like he had no intentions of going anywhere.

"Please Jax, you have to go right now."

His eyes continued to probe hers until he glanced behind her. Hearing the footsteps she knew it was already too late.

"Well Jax fucking Teller, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Carlos said, stepping outside and pushing her behind him into the house.

"I'm here to talk to Sage."

"Sage?" Carlos laughed. "Sage huh?"

"Something funny?"

Kate cringed. _This might be the last day of my life_, she thought.

"If you're looking for Sage you can find her at Diosa," Carlos started, "I hear she's a good lay."

"He's my boss Carlos," Kate piped up from inside.

"Oh that's right, my apologies." She could see from her place in the foyer that the two men were staring each other down, Jax with a look of sheer disgust on his face.

"She hasn't been at work and Collette asked me to come check it out." Jax informed Carlos.

"She's fine, she'll be back in no time. She just fell down chasing after my kids," Carlos stated, cracking his knuckles behind his head and then stretching like it was no big deal.

Jax glanced over Carlos's shoulder at Kate and her heart sank. She looked away, feeling humiliated and guilty for hiding it all from him.

"Isn't that right sweetie?" Carlos called out to her over his shoulder. She really fucking hated him.

"Yes," She answered quietly.

"Yes what?"

"Yes baby."

Jax scratched the back of his head, almost as though he was trying to keep his hand busy and out of trouble, "So Carlos, do you know Martin Paulsen?" She stared at him and wondered where he was going with this. A part of her wanted to run to the refrigerator, grab the money she had hidden and run past Carlos to Jax. But she knew what that meant for Jax. Carlos would have at least 30 guys after him in no time. She knew he could handle him one on one, but for her to put his babies in danger? She stayed planted in place. Even if Jax left and Carlos beat her to death she couldn't do that to his family.

"Yeah of course, we have a close business relationship," Carlos answered. This was news to Kate.

"Well he has a fascination with Sage, he pays extremely well and has been asking for her. I would really appreciate it if you let her come back with me. I will make sure it will be worth your while," Jax's face looked completely serious.

Money talks with Carlos and she could see the wheels spinning inside his tiny brain, "Here's a question, what percentage do _you _make off of her?" As disgusting as it was, Kate was relieved that he might actually be going for it.

"70," Jax was still staring Carlos down, not responding to Kate's inquisitive looks.

_What the hell? Really?_ Kate was pissed hearing that, hopefully he was just talking shit, making it work for the moment.

"So you get 70 and Sage gets 30?"

"Yeah."

"I want 75 percent total, every time she's with him." The fucker was trying to pimp her out.

"50."

"No way man, sorry you just have to deal with her not being there a few more days," Carlos started backing up into the house.

"I'll do 65, but that's all I can do. We have business expenses too and I can't take a loss. Think about it man, it will be good for you. The asshole's there every night so you'd be doubling her profits." Jax even had her convinced, it _had_ to work on Carlos.

"65 and I get my pick of pussy when I need it."

Jax stared at him and glanced over to Kate, the expression on his face spoke volumes. Yes she knew what a fucking asshole he was. He was obviously trying to keep in character with Carlos, but she could tell he wanted to end him right there.

"65 and it's open house."

"The man's waiting Sage, get your ass ready." Carlos turned around and yelled at Kate.

* * *

Kate practically ran to her room to get dressed. She needed to pick out something she would usually wear to work and put on extra makeup to make it convincing for Carlos. She tried to grab any essential she could and throw it in her purse, not knowing what she was going to do once she got out of there at this point.

She could hear them talking outside as she snuck over to the fridge. Carlos questioning about what kind of girls were there and what exactly they were allowed to do. Jax was talking to him like he was an asshole too, giving him specifics about the girls measurements and she was happy for the distraction. She got her money out of the butter and threw it into her purse, quickly covering it up with her makeup bag.

As she came out the front door Carlos grabbed her by her arm. She could see Jax straighten up and step towards them and she hoped he didn't blow it when they had gotten this far, "You better come home with some amazing money after this."

"She will," Jax answered for her. Carlos released her arm and she walked towards Jax's bike. Jax waited for her to pass him before turning and following her. She did her best to look like she was going to work and not eager to get away. With every step that she took, she began to feel the weight on her shoulders grow less and less.

* * *

They had driven for about ten minutes or so, heading towards Charming, when Jax pulled over into an empty parking lot of a closed down fast food restaurant. He stopped his bike and parked it, getting off and helping her off too. He hadn't given her a helmet and she knew it was in an effort to look like he didn't give a shit.

"What's going on Sage?" He looked at her so genuinely she thought she would break down, not able to remember anyone ever caring about her.

"Jax, you have enough to worry about," She couldn't look him in the eyes, so she turned and stared at the road.

"What's your real name?"

She stood there like a child in trouble. She never let anyone in. It was uncomfortable even considering it. But he had helped her again….

"What is it?"

"Kate," She looked back at him, her emotions starting to get the best of her. Relief. That was the strongest one.

"I'm going to take care of this for you," He looked so tough standing there in his plaid shirt and cut, but in his eyes she could see a glimpse of something softer.

"No, you can't. You're dealing with so much shit of your own. Besides, you don't understand how powerful he is in our community," She couldn't let him deal with Carlos, just getting her out of there was enough.

He took out a cigarette and lit it up, obviously frustrated by her stubborness. He walked over to the street, staring out, deep in thought.

"Tell me what's going on." He turned and exhaled out a puff of smoke he had been holding in. She tried to look confident, wanting nothing else than to not burden him with anything more. She hated how selfish she was being, hogging up all his time with this damsel in distress shit.

"I am handling this, I have a plan."

"It doesn't look like you're handling it," He glanced at her seriously, scanning over her bruises.

"Well, I've been saving money on the side. He found some of it and this happened, but I have more," She looked at him, hoping he would believe she could do this.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Why would I?"

"So you could escape this bullshit."

"Jax, your life is upside down. I'm just a whore, you don't need to deal with my problems too."

He threw his cigarette down and got up close to her face, grabbing both of her upper arms and squeezing them. "Is that what he tells you?"

"It's the truth."

"It's not the truth. It's a choice." He stepped back and was staring right at her.

She looked off to the side, uncomfortable talking about her situation with someone else. Of course no one could understand why she stayed and for so long. Why she fought back against Collette and Mr. Paulsen, yet she just stupidly took it from Carlos, letting herself be broken. And she didn't expect them to understand, she didn't fault them for it either. She found the courage to look at him again. Why was she so intimidated by facing this?

"Do you really think it's all your good at?"

"I know it is."

He came back up and grabbed the sides of her face, holding it tenderly in his rough hands, "That's how much he's in your fucking head."

She was close to crying, trying to remain focused on holding herself together. She glanced from his eyes to the side and back to his eyes. His face was so close to hers, looking at her intently as if attempting to see all of her truths that she was trying so hard to hide from everyone. She thought about kissing him, doing something, to let him know how appreciative she was for his help. He might have saved her life twice now. But fear came over her again, knowing it would just mess his life up. He leaned forward towards her and she didn't even wait to see why. She took a step back and turned, in denial of what he was going to do.

She could see him from the corner of her eye. He was biting on the inside of his lower lip and went to sit down on a nearby curb. He took out his cigarettes and lit another one up.

"You're not going back," He looked like he was talking more to his hands than her as he rested his elbows on his thighs and dug one of his sneakers into the gravel.

"I have to go back, at least until I have everything ready," She couldn't believe her own words, was she fucking crazy? She had finally been given the opportunity to get out of there.

"No, I'll take care of Carlos and I'll go with you to get your stuff."

"And then what? If I leave him I have to move far away and I haven't saved enough yet," She knew it would never be as easy as it sounded.

"I know where you can stay."

"He will send his boys looking for me. If I'm around here I'm as good as dead. And trust me Jax, he will know you helped me. I can't do that to you….I can't do that to your kids. You don't know what he's capable of."

"Oh darlin, I do." He said as he turned and stared at her face. She knew he knew all that he was capable of, with her, with him, with everyone. He slowly smoked the rest of his cigarette. He looked distant. She felt guilty for rejecting him, especially after all the loss he had been through. But it was what was best for both of them, she just kept telling herself.

He finished the cigarette, flicked it away and stood up. "So it's settled then, you're coming with me."

******Hope you liked it and it didn't disappoint! Let me know your thoughts!******


	12. Chapter 12

*****Wow the reviews! You guys are amazeballs! I hope that I can keep the momentum going and not take this in a direction you don't like...if you see it headed there let me know!*****

Kate was nervous about Jax's plan. He said he had a safe place for her to go for a little while until things blew over, but until he took her there he wanted her to stay at the clubhouse. It had recently been rebuilt and most people thought they were still meeting at an old candy store they had been using. She would be safe there and if Carlos did come looking for her they would be able to take care of it. She wasn't so sure of that. She knew Jax thought his guys could handle Carlos's but she had been around long enough to know just what kind of crazy they were dealing with and it bothered her that she could be putting his whole club's lives in jeopardy.

As she got off of his bike she was painfully aware of how she looked. She had tried to choose one of her more comfortable and less slutty looking dresses, but there weren't many options in the "I'm not a whore" category that would keep Carlos believing their plan. She had picked a black mini dress that had three quarter sleeves which was body hugging but covered more than enough, except for the areas where it was spliced on her shoulders, arms and sides of her waist that her skin peeked through. The stilettos she was wearing didn't help much either. She adjusted the bottom of her dress to look as modest as she could, all the while feeling the men staring at her. What they must be thinking, she almost smiled to herself, and noticing the bruises on her face, well they wouldn't be _that _wrong.

Jax seemed oblivious to everything as he started walking towards the clubhouse. She followed him and heard another pair of heels running up behind her.

"Jax!" Jax and Kate both turned around. Kate saw that the pair of expensive looking heels belonged to an attractive middle aged woman. Her hair was dark brown with streaks of blonde and she appeared pretty put together despite the frazzled look on her face.

"Yeah Ma," He answered. Ma? _This_ was Gemma? She didn't look very much like him or even old enough to be his mother, but this was interesting to Kate.

The woman gave Kate a once-over, looking pretty disappointed in her son before proceeding, "What have you gone and got yourself involved with?"

"I don't have time for this right now," He answered, trying to walk away from her.

"Can I talk to you alone for a minute?"

"I'm really busy Ma."

"Ok, I just," She snuck a glance over at Kate before unwillingly giving in to him, clearly preferring to talk to him in private, "I wanted to know how you and the boys are doing. I really miss them."

"They're fine, I need to keep them away until all of this is taken care of."

"Well maybe you could take me to see them?"

"We'll see," He answered turning to walk back to the clubhouse.

"Jax, I hope you are ok, I hate to see you drowning yourself in…" She called out to him almost desperately.

"In what Ma?" He said over his shoulder without turning around. Kate was following him but knew very well what she was referring to. She never finished her sentence and they went inside the clubhouse.

* * *

Once inside she noticed there were other women dressed similar to her and she started to not feel so paranoid. There were men sitting around and hanging out, all wearing the same cut that Jax did.

"Church!" Jax called out and the men started to funnel into a door on the other side of the room. He turned to Kate, "Stay here."

"Ok," She answered and took a seat on a nearby couch as he joined the other men. The women who were in there just stared at her as if she was some new exhibit at the zoo. She noticed them whispering amongst themselves and started to feel very uncomfortable. _This is better than the alternative _she kept reminding herself. Although, there was one particular girl who was about to get smacked if she didn't stop talking about her so loudly. Kate just sighed and handled it, being thankful that she was getting the help she needed and trying to tune everything else out. She wondered how long she would be here for, part of her thinking she should be making the most of this time and getting as far away as possible. She had decided to trust Jax, well, she realized she probably had no choice but to trust him, but she couldn't help but think that Carlos would be here in a few short hours when she didn't return home.

When Jax came out she saw him glance at the gawking women before looking at her. "You want to change?"

Kate smiled, relieved, "Yes."

"Come with me," He started walking towards the back, going down a hallway before opening a door to a bedroom. He closed the door after she came in and went through the dresser drawers, pulling out a t-shirt and sweatpants and tossing them to her.

"Thanks," Kate said, kicking her shoes off and pulling the sweatpants on under her dress, the waist barely resting at the bottom of her hips. He went into another drawer and got a pair of socks which were way too big but she didn't really care. She pulled her dress off to put the t-shirt on, used to undressing and not giving it any thought, but realized what she had done when she saw him coming over to her.

"Kate," She froze hearing him say her name, it sounded nice, just that one syllable, warm, not the screeching sound Carlos always made. He was looking down at her and she glanced down too, noticing she was wearing her red lace bra and thinking that's what he was looking at. She felt light headed.

"Yeah?" She answered, silently wanting him to say her name again.

He touched her side and she flinched, looking down and seeing the enormous bruises that she temporarily had forgotten were there. She pulled the shirt over her head embarrassed to look at him. She could sense him staring at her and she sat down on the bed that was in the middle of the room.

"You think they're broken?"

"It's a lot better now."

She could feel his eyes scanning over her again, obviously trying to assess her injuries. She was determined to handle this alone but it was finally starting to sink in that he wasn't the type of person to just see something and let it go. There was probably something honorable about that, but it did piss her off a little because it was going against everything that she believed was best. She started to put on a sock and realized her body could not move that way without pain involved. He grabbed them from her and started to put them on her feet, making her feel like she was about 2 years old. _God, she was such a fucking invalid._

"I have to go take care of something, but I want you to stay here." He told her as he slipped the last sock on her foot.

She figured as much, he had things he needed to do and she didn't want to hold him up, besides, she was relieved that this wounded puppy routine could have a break for a while, "Of course, don't worry about me."

He helped her up and they went back out into the main room.

"Chibs!" He called over to a slightly older man with a scar on his face. "We need to go," He told Chibs as he came over.

"Now?" Chibs looked confused by the direction.

"Yeah, it needs to be now."

"Everyone?"

"Tig and Happy, leave Bobby and Juice here."

"Alright then," She watched Chibs leave, walking over to tell some of the other men.

Jax went over to another man who had the word prospect on his cut and talked to him for a few minutes before coming back to tell her he would be back later.

She thanked him again, feeling like she was never really able to say it enough.

She watched them as they gathered together, going into another room and coming out holding guns. Her eyes widening wondering if he was into the same shit that Carlos was into. She had heard that the club was into gun running and honestly she could only assume, but it seemed like whatever they were doing they were going prepared. As they made their way out the door she looked away, trying to appear as if she wasn't paying any attention to the event going on in front of her.

Things quieted down once they left and Kate began wondering what her new plan should be. She was happy to have taken the money and knew that if she needed to she could get on a bus somewhere. But she wasn't really safe yet, just leaving Carlos a few short hours ago. Carlos would soon realize that she wasn't coming home and would send some of his guys out looking for her. She was pretty sure they would show up at the clubhouse, probably right after Collette's, so she hoped that Jax and the guys would be back by then. She wasn't very confident with who she had been left with.

Juice had said hello to her and made a little small talk, before going to hang out with some of the prospects and some women by a pool table. Kate sat down on a couch and waited, wondering if there was a book or something to help her pass the time. After a long time of waiting on the couch alone, she started to drift in and out of sleep, waking up each time her head started to bob down to the side.

"Hey," She heard someone say to her, Juice.

"Yeah," She answered him, half asleep.

"If you want to go lay down you can go in Jax's room."

"Ok thanks," She answered, getting up to go back to the room she had changed in, now knowing that was his room. She held the waistband of the pants as she shuffled down the hallway, the toes of her socks flopping underneath her feet, she wanted to laugh at the mess she must look like. She saw the bed and crashed on it, not even bothering to get under the covers, not even remembering falling asleep.

When Kate woke up she didn't recognize where she was at first. She groggily sat up in the bed and tried to get her bearings together. _Oh right_, she remembered as she rubbed her hands over her eyes. She saw her purse on the table beside her and grabbed her soap, toothbrush and toothpaste out of it, happy that she had even put it in there considering the rush she had been in.

She felt more awake after she washed her face and cleaned up a little. Her makeup was off but she could see her face looked a little better, she might not have to put too much makeup on to make herself look halfway decent. She went back out to get her make up bag and that's when she noticed the pile of bags lined up against the wall by the door. Something about them looked familiar. She went over to them and discovered a suitcase stuffed full and about six overflowing shopping bags. She could see clothes, underwear, brushes, shampoo, lots of things sticking out, _her things._

******You guys know what to do ;) I NEED to hear from you!******


	13. Chapter 13

*****Hey guys, thanks for the reviews! I am going to the beach for a few days so I won't be able to update. I wanted to get you a little something to read in the meantime. Hopefully I can make it up to you with an extra long chapter once I'm back! I promise I will update ASAP. Hope you like this one, I wasn't sure about it, but I think it's right.*****

Kate stood there for a minute, stunned. How were her things here right now? She looked at the bags trying to process it all, Jax had said he was going to go and take care of something. She hadn't wanted to hold him back from doing his thing, he spoke with his boys, and then they all left….they all left with guns. Guns. Oh God. She felt like she was on the edge of being sick right there. No.

She had to find Jax. He would tell her what was going on. Maybe it was just an afterthought after they did what they had left to do in the first place. They could have just went over there and took all of her stuff. Maybe Carlos wasn't even home. She left the room in a daze, hardly remembering the direction she needed to turn to get back to the main room. She glanced at the wall and saw their pictures, mug shots, and her stomach dropped again. Her head started to feel dizzy as she continued searching for Jax.

"Kate!" A brown haired man called out to her as she found her way into the main room. She looked over at him, confused, she didn't remember ever meeting him before, his face was completely unfamiliar, maybe this was all just a dream. "Chuckie, go get Jax," The same guy called out to a shorter man behind the counter. The man shuffled quickly out the front door and Kate just stood there, trying to process everything that was going on around her.

"Why don't you go sit down, you don't look so great," The guy said to her, ushering her back to Jax's room.

"No, I'm fine, really. I just need to find…"

"Get lost Billy," She heard behind her, knowing it was Jax but not remembering why she was in here with that guy in the first place. Who was that guy and how did he even know her name? Nothing made sense. Nothing seemed real.

She turned her head to the side and saw the bags again, remembering. "You got my stuff?" She asked him, not looking at him, but sensing he was there.

He didn't answer her and her gaze drifted back to where he was standing behind her. All she could see was his white shirt. It was stained with blood and everything slowly cemented into place. "Is this what you were taking care of?"

Jax just stood there, not answering. His face was serious but not angry, almost like he was waiting for a reaction from her. But she knew what the answer was. Part of her started to feel horrible and she didn't have any idea why. This had been something she always wished would happen. She opened her mouth to say something but he interrupted her.

"It needed to happen."

She closed it again, trying to form a thought to respond. "His guys…"

"You'll be safe."

"Will you?"

"We cleaned up good, it won't blow back on us." Cleaned up? _Ugh_, that sick feeling came rushing back.

"Yeah but when they see that all of my things are gone."

"His things are gone too, trust me they won't know."

She suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotions, so much had happened over the past few days that she didn't think she could handle it all. Tears started spilling out from her eyes before she could even stop them.

Jax came over to her and tried to hold her. She was too confused to even resist. Even with all the shit she had been through in her life, something about the amount she had been through in the past week had sent her over the edge. She felt dumb that she was even crying, confused and overwhelmed. She tried to cry silently but needed to get it out at the same time. She could feel his hands on her back and cringed at the position she was putting him in. She pulled her head away slightly and stared at his chest. Her eyes took a minute to really register what they saw. There was blood spatter all over it, Carlos's blood. He must have been pretty close to him to get that much all over his shirt. She imagined what had probably gone on between them and felt sick again. There he was, what was left of him, Carlos, smeared all over his shirt. She found herself running her fingers over the dried up stains, she wished they weren't there touching her at all. Touching her cheek and her hands. What the hell was wrong with her, was she going crazy? She looked up and found him staring down at her, probably wondering the same thing. She noticed there was more blood on his neck and tried to wipe it away, they were little specks, but just so many. Her fingers moved, there was more underneath his chin. The next thing she knew his lips were on top of hers. She was stunned, not expecting that to happen. She couldn't remember the last time she was ever even kissed and remained frozen in place. His lips were strong and safe, he kissed her gently at first but then got more aggressive when she didn't react to him. She felt something, an emotion deep inside her body, a yearning, and it scared the shit out of her. She let herself give in to him for just a moment and closed her eyes, quietly moaning in response to his eagerness. He pulled away and she could see something on his face. She really hoped it wasn't what it looked like, regret.

Jax ran his hand over his face before moving it to the back of his head and scratching it, avoiding her eyes the whole time. He sat down on the bed and stared at the floor.

She didn't know what to do anymore, so affected by every emotion. Pain, misery and despair from Carlos, sadness and fear, relief and comfort, all at once. Jax was just sitting there, quiet. She ran into the bathroom to try and escape from everything. She closed the door behind her and leaned her back against it. She was happy that Carlos was gone, right? It was finally over. Hopefully. And Jax had kissed her, and it felt so good, it had woken a part of her she had forgotten was even there. He had helped her with Carlos, _killed a man _for her_._ He was involved more than she ever wanted anyone to be. Why? And now he just sat there looking like he had made the worst decision of his life. All of her thoughts were random, shooting off like little electrical currents through her brain. No thought complete. She was sure that when she got out of this she was going straight to see a therapist. Nothing made sense and here she was making things worse by hiding. She decided she might need to stay in the bathroom the rest of her life, avoiding him and the embarrassment that was starting to creep up on her. But Carlos was dead. He was dead and he couldn't hurt her anymore. The thought of that really did make her feel better. She pulled herself together and left her confines of the tiny bathroom before it could start to look too weird. Jax was still sitting on his bed, but she noticed he had changed out of his other clothes.

He glanced over at her and she could see the distance in his eyes. He looked back to his blood stained clothes lying on the bed and gathered them up, throwing them into a crumpled heap on the carpet in the corner.

Kate didn't know what to say to him as he just sat there keeping to himself. She jumped when she heard a knock on the door, interrupting the uncomfortable silence. Jax stood up with the same lost look on his face and walked over to open it.

"Hey man, you better get out here," Juice told him, his voice sounding urgent.

"What's going on?" Jax answered.

"Manny's here," She heard Juice trying to say it quietly to keep her from overhearing. But she had heard, every single syllable perfectly clear.

Shit shit shit…this is what she knew was going to happen. Manny was Carlos's right hand man. If they had cleaned up and made it look like they just left, how would he be here right now. She made up her mind, she had to leave. She was going to end up getting them all hurt.

Jax turned his head slightly, "Don't leave this room." He said it without even looking at her.

She nodded back to him as he left and closed the door behind him. All she needed was them finding her here. They would retaliate against the Sons for taking out Carlos. Just when she thought things were finally starting to get better.

******Sorry so short! I didn't want to keep you waiting too long. Please let me know what you think and I promise I will update ASAP!******


	14. Chapter 14

*****I'm back, a little tanner/burnt lol. I know I promised you a long one, I tried I really did! :/ ****Thanks again to everyone who reviewed and followed. This story almost has 100 reviews, I can't believe it!*****

The Calaveras had really never been anything for the Sons to worry about. They had always made stupid moves and been so unorganized they were really never seen as a threat. But when Carlos came over from Lobos Sonora after they had fallen apart, he became president of the Calaveras and they started to grow stronger. Now with him gone, Manny Hierra would most likely be the one to step up. Jax knew that they were working with Martin Paulsen inside Charming, but to what extent remained the question.

When Juice told him that Manny was outside it grabbed his attention. They had no beef with the Calaveras and there was nothing pointing back to them regarding Carlos, so for him to be there now was interesting. He followed Juice out to the parking lot, Chibs, Tig and Bobby followed closely behind.

"What's goin on?" He greeted Manny, who was standing there with two of his boys, two more sitting in a car that was idling behind him.

"Carlos is MIA, we reached out to Alvarez and he suggested you might know something." Manny informed Jax.

Jax was surprised by his comment. Alvarez was the president of the Mayans and as far as he knew the Mayans wrote off the Calaveras a long time ago. Why would they be reaching out to him?

Recently, things between the Mayans and Sons had not been good. Jax had been trying to get the Sons out of guns and Alvarez was not happy about how he was handling it. Jax had been working with the Niners, to get them to take over what the Sons had been doing, and was trying to convince Alvarez that nothing would change in the way he receives his shipments. Alvarez had been especially concerned with the recent power shift in Oakland. Jax had set up a meeting with the Niners, Mayans and Sons to show that everything would remain basically the same and run as smooth as possible. But once Jax left the meeting, Marcus Alvarez betrayed him, killing the niners who were there as soon as they handed the guns over to them. Jax had been pissed once he found out, but his club had waited to tell him, first because he had planned to turn himself in for his family and they didn't want him to have to deal with that shit, and then because of Tara's murder. So at this point, things still hadn't been resolved with the Mayans. Did he miss something while he was dealing with everything else?. Why would they be involved at all? And why would they lead Manny to the Sons? Was it a way to send another message that Alvarez was the one calling the shots?

"Don't know why he would suggest that, we have no business with him," Jax answered confidently.

"Huh," Manny paused, "Well his old lady has gone missing too."

"We don't touch old ladies."

"Well we figured, since she works at Diosa you might know something."

"Maybe you should check there."

The men stood staring at each other. Both sides were ready for anything to happen.

"Speaking of old ladies, it's a shame what happened to yours." Manny said in an attempt to instigate. Jax's eyes narrowed. His mind wandered to the possibility of Alvarez killing Tara to make a point to Jax that he couldn't get out.

"You have any other business here?" Chibs spoke up, thankfully, because Jax was struggling to restrain himself.

"No esé, but do me a favor and let me know if you hear anything," Manny said, backing away to get into the car.

Jax nodded and the other men just glared, jaws clenched and on high alert.

The men left and Jax turned to his guys who were all staring at him with knowing looks.

"Church."

They funneled into the room and Bobby closed the door behind them.

"Jax, you have to get rid of that girl. If they find out she's here it'll be a full out war," He said as he took his seat at the table.

"I agree, it's not a smart move to have her here," Chibs spoke up.

Jax sat, deep in thought, trying to figure out his next move.

"Maybe we could use her, to get some kind of leverage with Alvarez," Tig volunteered.

"No," Jax finally spoke, "I'll move her tomorrow, she stays out of this."

"Stays out of what Jax, she _is_ this." Bobby piped up.

Jax gave him a look, "This has nothing to do with her, this is Alvarez trying to make a few waves. He wants to pretend that he's in charge. It's about us and the Niners."

The men sat around, looking unconvinced.

"What I _don't_ understand, is what the Mayans are doing dealing with the Calaveras again, especially with the Calaveras working with Paulsen."

"They're hitting us while we're down Jackie Boy." Chibs answered.

"Yeah and getting a little too close for my comfort." Bobby added.

Jax leaned back in his chair, looking them all in the eyes. "So I'll move the girl tomorrow, she won't be an issue. But we need to keep our eyes and ears open on this. There are moves being made, and being made in Charming. It needs to be dealt with right away."

* * *

Kate paced back and forth in front of Jax's door, wondering what was happening on the other side of it. She knew he was right, there was no way she could leave the room, too many people would be in danger, but it didn't change the fact that she was itching to get out and see what was going on outside. She hoped he really knew who he was dealing with. Carlos might be dead, but his boys weren't, and too many people wrote them off as harmless and unorganized.

The door finally opened and Jax came in. Kate looked at him, nervous to say anything but wanting to know.

"Was he looking for me?" She asked him, her eyes eager to know, he glanced at her and then quickly away.

"Yeah, I can't keep you here."

"Good, I mean, I know it's better if I leave."

"I'll take you somewhere safe. I'm going to go take care of some things and then I will be back to take you." He walked back to the door as he said it.

"I can just go to the bus station, you don't have to take me anywhere Jax."

He turned back to face her, "No, you have to lay low for a while. They are all looking for you and Carlos. And if they find you and no Carlos, it won't be good for anyone."

Kate bit down on her lower lip, thinking about what Jax said. He was right and she knew it, but she didn't want him to keep helping her. Her mind was all jumbled up just dealing with how she was feeling about everything.

"Chuckie will get you something to eat." He said as he went to out of the room. She didn't know what to say, still feeling unsure about what had happened before between them, so she didn't say anything and he left.

* * *

That night Jax had woken her up to tell her it was time to go. It had to be about four in the morning. The sun wasn't up yet, making the parking lot pitch black and she could feel the morning chill still lingering in the air. He led her to a small blue SUV and she noticed he had already loaded it up with her bags and some other stuff, filling the trunk completely.

Things were still a little weird since their kiss and at first there was nothing but awkward silence between them as they drove along the highway. Kate tried to lean her head to the side and sleep a little. She had no idea how far they were going. The sound of the tires on the road underneath them coupled with the quietness was making her eyes heavy.

"So where is this place?" She asked him after they had been driving for what seemed like forever. She had given up hopes of sleeping every time her head hit lightly against the window.

"We're almost there." He answered. From what she could gather, they had been headed straight north the entire time.

"And you have to drive all the way back?"

"I stay here a couple of times a week." He answered her. At least he was talking. She looked around the car and noticed the back seats were filled with more bags, but not hers so she wondered if they belonged to him.

"Thanks for grabbing all my stuff for me. I think you really grabbed just about everything," She said to him, trying to break the ice a little.

He took a quick glance sideways at her.

She smiled to herself, "I mean, you even grabbed the half used shampoo bottle from the shower."

"I don't think that was me." She remembered there were at least four of them there.

"Well thanks anyway, very thorough indeed." She thought about the fact that whoever grabbed her things managed to grab each and every pair of underwear she owned. She hoped it wasn't all of them but who the hell knew. "Jax, this really isn't necessary, you could just drop me off at a bus terminal, I have money to get a decent length away." She tried one last time, more for her peace of mind than for the fact of actually meaning it.

"You decided to lay low for a little while remember?"

"Yeah, I know, just thought I'd say it."

He pulled off the highway in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. Mountains were in the far distance with nothing but desert land in between. The sun was starting to faintly light the sky as it peeked above the ground to the east.

"So I just want to prepare you for where I am leaving you." He said to her, his eyes trained on the road in front of him.

Her ears perked up at that and her body straightened up out of her napping position, as if that would help her to hear him better. "Um, ok…."

"It might even be worse than where you were living before."

"What?! Then it's definitely a bad idea don't you…" She could see him smirking at her. Her stomach dropped and she grinned, happy he was in a good mood again.

"I'm joking. It's pretty bad for me but I can deal with it," He was still smiling, her face pressing him for answers, "I was married twice."

Kate still just looked at him, waiting for him to continue, his face grew solemn and she knew to stay quiet, "Tara was always trying to get me to get the club out of guns, she didn't want to raise the kids with their dad in jail or dead."

That made perfect sense to Kate.

"She stuck with me through a lot of shit and every time I thought we were getting out, something would happen to pull us deeper. Finally she was trying to get me to move with her away from Charming, she didn't want us becoming like Gemma and Clay. But I couldn't, shit just kept happening, I couldn't leave."

Kate stayed quiet, just letting him go on at his own pace. His face was different, reminding her more of the Jax she had met in the beginning, but she was glad he was opening up. "So she made a plan to take my kids and leave me, her intentions were to protect them above everything else. At first I was angry, how could she take my boys? But then I got it, I wanted her to take them, I didn't want this life for them."

Kate got it too, not even being a mother but she lived in the life and that was no place for people you love. She hadn't seen many people be able to get out of it, if you tried they were always worried you would turn on them.

"So anyways, the little plan she hatched included my ex Wendy. I figured because I didn't do the right thing by her before, I would trust her instincts now, at least somewhat."

Kate still just sat there and he glanced her way.

"So I moved Wendy and the boys to this house temporarily while I sort everything out. I have a prospect there too, because I don't completely trust her alone with my kids. Drugs and shit that I'm not sure she's kicked." He turned his gaze back to the road, "She'll be happy you are staying for a while."

"You didn't tell her?" Kate was nervous now to be intruding here. And with his kids?

"Yeah I did." He slowed down as he made a right onto a dirt road, barely visible from the street because of the way the trees were situated. "She's been watching the kids, stuck in the house. She's happy about that but gives me shit every time I stop by about how stir crazy she's getting." Jax's phone rang and he slowed the car to the side of the road to answer it.

"Yeah?" Kate watched his face as he talked to whoever was on the other end. It looked as though he had figured something out by whatever was said.

"No man, I have no idea." Kate looked around, trying to see if she could tell where she even was. She had no idea how Jax ever found the place they were driving to.

"Gemma told you that? It was probably a crow eater….yeah she hasn't been right lately...Ok man." Jax pressed the end button on his phone and dialed a number right away. "Bobby, if Nero asks about the girl nobody knows anything…..thanks."

Kate stared at Jax. What just happened there? He pulled back onto the road but had to be able to feel her stare on him.

"Jax?" She asked him since he wasn't filling her in on his little phone call.

"Yeah."

"Was Nero looking for me?"

"Gemma told him she thought you were at the clubhouse."

"You didn't want to tell him?"

"No." He didn't elaborate and she stopped asking. He had told her a lot for one day. She turned to face forward and stayed quiet for the rest of the ride.

******Hope you guys are ok with where things are going. Let me know what you think!******


	15. Chapter 15

*****Thanks for the reviews, they are always appreciated! I am trying to get back to all of you!*****

Kate felt anxious as she helped Jax unload her endless things out of his car. She hoped Wendy was really ok with her being there, she was definitely intruding in their lives, she didn't care what anyone said.

"Here, just carry this," Jax said as he turned away from the trunk, handing her a small bag.

"Are you kidding me? You have to give me more than this or you'll be making a hundred trips to bring all this in," She slid beside him to grab more of her bags out of the trunk, her arm lightly brushing against his which momentarily caught her off guard, a response inside her that she didn't fully understand. She pushed the thoughts out of her mind before they even had a chance to form. Taking a deep breath, she waited for him so that they could walk up to the door together. She would have rather brought the bags in later, once she met everyone. Who knew how it would look, just bringing everything up to the door right away like she was moving in or something, so she'd let him be the first one there.

"Hey Jax," A brown haired woman called, coming out from the front door. Jax looked at Kate, fake fear showing across his face and she tried her best not to laugh.

"Wendy, this is Kate," He introduced them, turning back around to close the trunk.

"Hey Kate, it's nice to meet you. I'm _so_ glad you're here," Wendy told her as she walked towards her," I can't wait to talk to another woman, I feel like I've been locked away with kids and boys forever!" She hugged Kate making her feel welcome.

Jax shot Wendy an irritated look and handed her some of the bags, "Some of the boys stuff."

"Nice to meet you too Wendy," Kate promptly snuck in, unsure of what was going on between them, but not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.

"Where's Freddie?" Jax asked Wendy over his shoulder as he walked towards the open front door.

"He's in the kitchen, eating as usual." Jax disappeared inside and Wendy lagged behind, casually walking along with Kate.

"So, do you know how long you're staying?" Wendy asked her as they made their way inside.

"I'm not sure," Kate answered truthfully.

"Well the longer you stay, the better it is for me," Wendy informed her, smiling, "You can put your things in Jax's room, it's this way." She led her to his room and Kate felt funny putting her bags in there, Wendy must have noticed by the look on her face.

"He wants you to stay in here, he's only here a couple of times a week," She explained to Kate. "There's a bathroom and everything."

"Oh, ok."

"Besides, we only have 3 bedrooms and Freddie sleeps on the couch."

"No problem, thanks," Kate said as she dropped her bags on the floor beside the dresser.

"Come on, let's go outside, you can meet the kids." Wendy was already heading out of the room before she could even respond. Kate had already met his boys, but not officially. She followed Wendy out through a sliding glass door to a big open back yard. There were tall Cypress trees and Junipers bordering the yard on each side, enclosing them in and giving shaded privacy. She noticed a man sitting on a cement bench. _That must be Freddie_, she thought. Jax was also out there, squatting down next to a sandbox that his boys were playing in.

"Grab a seat," Wendy motioned to a patio chair next to one that she was sitting down in. Kate sat down and followed Wendy's gaze back to Jax and his kids. "The big one, Abel, he's mine."

"He looks just like Jax."

"Figures right?" She said dumping a cigarette out of her pack, "I haven't been in his life much, but now, well, now I have the chance, it's bittersweet really," She lit up her cigarette, not really smoking it as much as she just let it hang to the side in her hand.

"Yeah," Kate answered knowingly.

"He doesn't know I'm his mom yet, but I'm hoping once we bond a little more that Jax will be ok with me telling him, I don't really want to confuse him more at this point. They've been through so much," She took a drag off of her cigarette and flicked the ashes into the ash tray, sparing the patio the mess of it falling.

Jax walked over to them and took out his cigarettes too, putting one in his mouth. He bent down towards Wendy as she lit it up for him before pulling up a chair behind them both. Kate wondered how _exactly_ their relationship was with each other.

Abel came running up with Thomas following nonchalantly behind. He had a small bucket filled with sand that he plopped down on the table in front of Wendy, causing some of it to spill out.

"Gentle, ok?" She told him, "Abel, this is Kate, can you say hi? She's going to stay with us for a while."

"Hi."

"Hi Abel." Kate smiled at him.

He hastily turned his attention back to Wendy, apparently very focused on his own little mission, "Can I play with my cars in the sand box?"

"Sure buddy," Wendy answered, getting up to open the sliders for him.

Thomas came over to Kate, handing her his pail with a train inside. "Is this for me?" Kate asked him. He smiled and headed back to the sandbox. Kate watched him stroll away, his chubby little toddler legs carrying him on his quest.

Wendy returned to sit by them and Abel rushed past her to get to the sandbox again, his hands full of toy cars. "He wanted to bring all of them, but no way am I cleaning that mess, I let him bring five."

"Always spoiling the fun," Jax said from behind her.

"You leaving tonight or tomorrow?" Wendy asked him but he didn't respond.

Kate tried to hide her amusement listening to the two of them. She smiled as she saw Thomas coming back her way. He sauntered right up to her, this time dropping three rocks in her lap. "Wow, thank you Thomas. I'll put them in the bucket with your train." Thomas smiled and ran back to continue his game of gathering things.

Wendy was looking at her with an eyebrow raised, her arm was outstretched with a long ash barely hanging on to the end of her cigarette. Kate was already feeling awkward about this whole situation, she didn't need the added pressure of being evaluated on how she was able to deal with children. She didn't have any of her own and Carlos's two were always so bad she never really bonded with them. But here came Thomas once again, grasping the stem of a big dirty leaf tightly in his fist. He put it down in her lap and looked up at her smiling with pride. Screw everybody, this kid was adorable and giving her presents, she didn't care what they thought. "Why, thank you so much sir, this is the most beautiful leaf I have ever seen." He laughed this time and ran away.

Kate could feel them watching her, she didn't want to look but something made her. Jax was leaning back, his hands behind his head, clearly amused about the whole thing. "What? Any man who gives me that many presents deserves to be called sir."

Jax quirked an eyebrow at her and grinned. His phone started ringing and he walked away to answer it.

* * *

Later that night Kate was happy to finally have a moment to herself. She had spent the day talking to Wendy, watching Jax with his kids, which she had to admit turned her on in a way, more talking with Wendy, damn this girl sure was going a little stir crazy, and playing a game with the boys so they would feel more comfortable about her being there. Freddie was just kind of in the background for most of the day, talking to Jax outside a few times, but not much to Kate except for the occasional smile or hello. She had helped Wendy cook dinner and then cleaned up the kitchen as Wendy gave the kids baths and tucked them in with Jax. Kate was surprised at how comfortable she was, considering she was an outsider in their little makeshift family. She had a great day, but she needed to remember why she was here in the first place, getting lost in that comfortable feeling was nice, but she had to be realistic, if she wasn't she was going to get hurt for sure.

She took a shower, grinning when she saw her shampoo bottle and glad to have something familiar around her, even if it was something insignificant like that.

Slipping into her sleep shorts and tank, she couldn't wait to get into bed, completely worn out from everything that had happened in the past few days. She combed through her hair and tried to dry it as much as she could plausibly bear, glancing in the mirror, the bed beckoned her from behind her.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," Kate answered it laughing at herself. She slid under the covers, surprised at how fresh they smelled, letting the softness brush up against her clean skin. The slight weight of the sheets was just enough to instantly put her to sleep.

She didn't know how long she had been asleep before he came into bed, but she did know that she wasn't able to completely wake up when he did. Her heart quickened when she felt him come up close behind her. Why was she over reacting, they had done this so many times before. Maybe it was that kiss, the amazing one that felt so good to her, and the fateful one that he definitely regretted. She didn't open her eyes, drifting in and out of sleep as she felt him touching her hair, gently pulling strands of it for a few long minutes before kissing her lightly on the back of her head. She struggled to keep herself from reacting to him, her heart wanting to get closer while her mind was telling her it was just him missing Tara.

******Remember to review! I want to hear what you think, good, bad, boring, terrible grammar skills, whatever...and I'll get the next chapter up ASAP******


	16. Chapter 16

*****Can't believe it 100 reviews! I owe you guys so I decided to post this super quick. Thanks for reviewing, it gives me the motivation to write this story and the confidence to share it :)*****

Things got a little more comfortable as the days passed. Jax had left the morning after he had brought Kate there. He would call every so often to check in with Wendy, asking how the boys were doing and if there was anything they needed. He had left Wendy with a prepaid phone, so when it rang she knew it was important and she always answered it. There were only two people who knew about this little situation, Jax and Unser, an ex-cop that Wendy trusted and Jax trusted enough to let him know the kids were safe with her. He didn't know their location though, and Kate doubted that they even knew it themselves.

It had taken about four or five board games, but Abel started to warm up to Kate. She was glad too, it provided Wendy with some much needed relief when she wanted to shower or just have a minute to herself. Thomas always liked her from the first minute, even sitting with her on the couch with his blanket and bear or wanting her to read him stories before Wendy would tuck him in at night.

It had been awhile since Jax had left and Kate had been wondering if he always stayed away this long. She didn't want to question Wendy about it, thinking it might stir up some bitterness so she just left it alone. But Wendy finally said something while Kate was in the kitchen helping her make sandwiches for lunch. The boys were busy in the other room with Freddie watching cartoons.

"This isn't like Jax not to come for five days, something must be going on," Wendy said to her with her head in the fridge.

"Like what?" Kate asked, secretly hoping it had nothing to do with her.

"Who knows, I am always concerned because he wants someone to answer for what happened to Tara. He's definitely off kilter." Wendy shut the fridge and placed the jelly on the table.

"Do you think that you guys will ever get back together?" Kate asked, thinking it was a perfectly logical question.

Wendy froze on her way to grab a butter knife, "You're kidding right?"

"No, I just thought it would be good for the boys if…"

"This from the woman who shares a bed with him." Wendy threw out at her as if it were a well known fact.

"What? No."

"No, but I'm glad you brought it up, because I was meaning to ask_ you_ what's going on between you guys." Wendy stood with the knife in her hand and a look on her face that Kate couldn't place, but she had to admit it the whole scene was a little intimidating.

"We're just friends, if we're even that."

Wendy raised her eyebrow in thought before joining Kate at the table. "No...I don't love him. For a while we couldn't stand each other, his hatred more than mine, which I understand. But I thought it was better for Abel to try and have a decent relationship. So that's what I'm doing. So to answer you're question, no, never."

Part of Kate was relieved, why? Because he was not off limits? Like she really needed a relationship right now. Besides the fact that he was still mourning his wife, did she really want to be _that_ girl? Ugh, these thoughts kept coming back, no matter how much she tried to avoid them.

"So?"

"What?" Kate wouldn't look at her, she started spreading the peanut butter on the bread to keep herself busy.

"Well I mean, you sleep together right?" As far as she could reason, Wendy only saw that happen once.

"Yeah but, it's nothing really," Kate grabbed for the jelly, "It's better that way, for both of us."

Wendy narrowed her eyes at Kate, clearly trying to read her. "Whatever you say."

* * *

After Kate finished helping Wendy clean up the lunch things, she went to sit down on the couch. Thomas was already sitting there and he climbed into her lap, causing her to smile at him. Abel was sitting on the floor entranced by some screechy voiced cartoon character. She glanced to her right and noticed that Freddie was also just as involved in the show, which made her laugh out loud.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of a motorcycle pull up into the driveway. Wendy went over to the kitchen window to peek out. They knew it had to be him but Wendy still always needed to make sure, Freddie of course didn't even seem to notice.

"It's him…and he's not wearing his cut." Wendy called out to Kate from the kitchen.

"Really?" That could mean a couple of things. One of those things was that he had done something he didn't want the club involved in. Wendy turned around to look at her and the girls exchanged worried glances. Wendy turned back to the window and Kate could see her straining to look at him.`

"Holy shit Kate, he cut off his hair!"

"What?!"

"Come here quick!"

"You guys are too much," Freddie said as he got up to go outside and talk to Jax. They had forgotten he was even there.

Kate moved and put Thomas down, walking quick to the kitchen. Thomas followed right behind her, "Up." She scooped him back up just in time to see Jax and his new hair. It was a messy short haircut, she wasn't sure if he did it himself or what. "Why did he do that?"

"He's losing it," Wendy concluded. They watched as Jax threw the cigarette he was smoking to the side and turned to walk up the driveway with Freddie. The two women scrambled away from the window and tried to look busy as he walked inside.

"Daddy!" Abel yelled and ran up to him to jump on him. Thomas squirmed for Kate to put him down and he ran over too, gripping Jax's leg.

"Hey monsters," He greeted them, squatting down to give them a hug.

"Jax, what the hell did you do to your hair?" Wendy blurted out.

"I needed a change," He said getting up and tousling Abel's hair, a hint of annoyance was in his voice and it was directed at Wendy.

"What's next, your beard?"

"Yep," He answered shortly, "Hey Kate."

"Hi." She had to admit, the short hair was kind of attractive on him, even though she liked how he had it before.

"I'm going to go take a shower," He pulled his shirt over his head, "Can you shake this out?" He handed it to Wendy. Kate stood there speechless, never seeing him with his shirt off before and God was he perfect.

"Sure Jax." Wendy grabbed the shirt from him and he walked into the bedroom.

Kate followed him with her eyes, noticing the huge tattoo on his back for the club. She shut her mouth, embarrassed that she didn't realize that it was hanging open like that, and turned her stare back to Wendy who was standing there with a shit-eating grin on her face.

"Ok, I believe you that you haven't slept with him yet. Hell, I'd even go as far as saying that was the first time you saw him shirtless."

"Shut up."

"I'm going to just throw this in the dryer." Wendy left her and Kate went back in where the boys were now playing with their cars on the carpet, unable to shake the memory of what she just saw.

Freddie was just sitting there, watching the cartoons by himself. Kate wondered if he was here to watch Wendy, protect them, or what. Whatever he was supposed to be doing he was pretty bad at it.

She picked up a book she had started reading and tried to get back into it. She had to admit though, she really wanted to know what had gone on with Jax the past few days. She was getting really involved in a chapter when she was smacked with something warm.

"Kate, can you bring this in to Jax? I have to put another load in." Wendy had a mischievous smile on her face.

Kate looked down and saw his navy blue t-shirt in her lap. Her insides flipping as she wondered what exactly she would be walking into. "Um, I guess."

She went over to the bedroom door, knocking so lightly on it part of her hoped he wouldn't hear her.

"Yeah?"

She opened the door and found him looking in the mirror in the bathroom with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, _Wendy is such a bitch_. She felt her palms start to get sweaty holding on to that shirt, but it wasn't until she began to feel light headed that she put two and two together. What the hell was wrong with her? She had seen tons of naked men, why was this one affecting her like this.

"Here's your shirt." She breathed out quietly, trying to look anywhere but at him.

"Thanks." He took it from her, his fingers grazing hers making her try even harder to keep her eyes fixed on her new favorite bedroom door, her only escape from this room. She was sure he had no idea what he was doing to her.

"So, has everything been alright? I mean, I hope I haven't caused you any problems."

He didn't answer her right away so she cautiously peeked over to where he was standing at the bathroom sink. "Are you really going to shave off your beard?" The razor in his right hand suggested that's exactly what he was planning on doing right now.

"Yeah probably," He put the razor down and turned to see his tattoo in the mirror, "I want to get rid of this shit too but don't think that will happen."

She couldn't believe he was saying that. As much as she knew about club life, she knew that was a part of him no matter what. She frowned thinking about what was going on inside of him.

He closed the door to a crack for a minute before opening it back up. He had put his clothes back on and he came out to where she was standing. His hair was wet and messy, standing out in every direction, beads of water were still lingering on the sides of his face. _Maybe it's better if he doesn't come back more often…ugh._

"Nero has been working with the Mayans." He informed her, staring down into her eyes.

"What?" She was puzzled, she always thought Nero was loyal to the Sons, he had even been dating Gemma.

"Yeah, and the Mayans are patching in the Calaveras, who are working for Martin Paulsen. Can you see where I'm going with this?"

"Oh my God."

He just kept staring at her, now_ he _was intimidating her. She was frantically trying to piece together what all of this exactly meant.

"So basically you've been pretty busy," She said stupidly. She couldn't believe he was even telling her what he was.

"It's just the same as it's always been, every time I try to get out I get pulled even deeper. Things just keep getting worse."

It barely registered to her what he was saying. His hair, beard, tattoo, the way he was talking, she wasn't getting it, all she could think of was how she was contributing to this mess. "I'm so sorry if this has anything to do with me, with killing Carlos. You should just let me leave, let me end this for you." Her eyes were all over the room again, this time looking to find where all her stuff was so she could collect it.

"Kate." _Oh God. She couldn't. _She tried to stay focused. "Kate." She still wasn't listening. "Kate!" He finally grabbed her attention and she looked at him, "This has nothing to do with you, it's all about some business we gave the Niners and the Mayans trying to say we made the wrong decision. If anything, taking out Carlos was a good move."

"Really?"

"Really." Something about the way he was staring at her made her believe him.

******Love to hear from you guys! Thanks again for so many reviews!******


	17. Chapter 17

Sorry for the tease! I just wanted to let you know that I am updating this story **tomorrow**, sorry for the LONG delay, I had some things going on that have now calmed down and I will be able to update regularly again!


	18. Chapter 18

******Here's a long one to make up for my absence...sorry in advance for Kate's behavior, they are both just a little screwed up right now...******

Jax's phone rang and he groaned, there was no way it was morning already. He rolled out of bed and flipped it open, walking barefoot across the carpet to answer it outside of the room so he wouldn't wake Kate up.

"Yeah," his voice was hoarse from just waking up.

"Jax, hey man, just wanted you to know Juice is MIA," Bobby informed him.

"Since when?" Jax answered, rubbing his face and stretching out his upper body. He noticed Juice wasn't around the last time he was there, but he had also noticed he had been acting strange for a while. Juice had betrayed Jax, telling Nero that he killed an innocent woman under Jax's orders, something that didn't sit well with Nero, who had questioned Jax about it and Jax had assured him that she had accidently overdosed. Jax had wanted to settle that with Juice, but with everything going on it had been put on the back burner. And now he was missing? He wasn't sure what to think about it.

"A few days now, not sure if the Mayans have him." Bobby mumbled back.

"If they had him they would have let us know by now," Jax figured, knowing that was something they would happily wave in their faces.

"I guess, but I think it's worth looking in to."

"It's not the first time he's gone MIA," Jax groaned again, not ready to cut his visit short, "I'm coming down there now."

"Ok, I'll get everyone over here."

Jax flipped his phone shut and went back into the room. He glanced at Kate's sleeping body before he turned to pull some clothes out from the drawers of the dresser. Whatever thoughts that tried to creep their way into his mind never made it there, he couldn't believe that he had to worry about babysitting Juice in the midst of everything else that he was dealing with.

He pulled his t-shirt over his head and changed out of his sweatpants into a clean pair of jeans. He didn't have time to shower but it probably didn't matter, he was planning on paying a visit to Alvarez today anyway, he could shower when all of that was taken care of. He heard Kate start to stir so he slipped out of the room before she was awake enough to ask him any questions.

* * *

When he got to the clubhouse he noticed almost everyone's bikes were there. Everyone except Juice. _Great, I still have to deal with this bullshit. Maybe when I find him I'll just take care of that problem too._

"Jackie boy," Chibs came up to him, putting his hand on his shoulder and walking along side him as he headed for the clubhouse doors. He leaned in close to talk quietly in Jax's ear, "Nero is meeting with Alvarez today, supposedly there will be a lot of Mayans left unattended while it's happening."

Jax quirked his eyebrow at Chibs and grinned. He had plans for the Mayans, but he was waiting until he dealt with Paulsen again before he carried them out. But what harm could come from the idea Chibs was giving him. And what did he care anymore anyway? He smiled again, one thing he was sure of was that it would be much easier to persuade Paulsen when he saw what they were really capable of.

* * *

Later that evening, Jax had pulled back into Teller-Morrow's parking lot ready to call it a night. Things hadn't gone entirely as planned with the Mayans, actually they had gotten pretty out of control. But Jax was used to that and handled it the way he knew how. One thing he noticed tonight was how his club was there for him, they listened to him and were with him 100% even when he hadn't even been thinking with his head at all. He regretted wanting to leave but when he thought about his kids he knew it was the right thing. Maybe he could just have Wendy take them and he would know they would have a somewhat healthy life compared to if they stayed around this. Could he really leave his club? They would give up their lives for him and he was just going to walk away and leave them to deal with the gang wars that were starting to ignite in Charming. He couldn't think straight but it was ok, he got a lot accomplished when he was able to not think at all. Not sure if it was productive, but in a way it was some sort of therapy.

His phone rang and he noticed it was Unser, "Yeah?"

"I got a strange phone call Jax," Unser's voice was shaky.

"Like what?" Jax asked, he had been hoping to wrap it up for the night and now something else was starting.

"I think it was Juice, Jax. His voice sounded crazy and he said that I had to help him, he said that he was hiding from _you_."

"What? Are you kidding me? What do you mean you _think _it was him?"

"I started to ask him where he was and he hung up. It was the strangest thing. Anyways, just wanted you to know, not sure what he would be hiding from you for."

"Thanks," Jax said as he hung up his phone. Why would Juice be hiding from him? He had thought Juice was acting weird since he told him he betrayed him, but was it something more? Something that had to do with Tara?

* * *

Kate got out of the shower and put on a white cami and striped cotton sleeping shorts. She was up late talking with Wendy again. Part of her was getting tired of being trapped in this limbo, waiting on whatever Jax was doing and hiding out until it was safe to start her life again. She sometimes thought about just leaving, trying to make it on her own, but she knew she had a better chance at leaving with his help.

Her feelings were growing for him and that just made it worse. She knew things would never work out between them. He was just looking to get over his wife and she needed to be away from any reminder of her past. And in the rare occurrence that they did get together, would she be living every day of their relationship with him reminding her of her demons.

She sighed as she combed through her wet hair looking in the mirror. Sage was gone forever. Now it was only Kate, and Kate did not want to be walked all over anymore. She switched the light off and went to lie down in the bed.

As soon as she pulled the covers over herself, the door opened and in came Jax. She could see in the light that shone through the window that his face was serious. He came closer and crawled into bed with her. His face had cuts and dried up blood on it.

"Jax, what happened?" She glanced down at his shirt which was supposed to be white and saw streaks of darkness through it, it didn't take even a second for her to realize it was blood. "Are you bleeding?"

He didn't answer her and instead silenced her with his mouth. His lips were desperate and he rolled on top of her pinning her head against the pillow. She couldn't pull away from the kiss even if she wanted to, struggling for a minute before surrendering to him. Knowing it was the worst thing that could happen between them, it would only make her feelings stronger and most likely push him away, once the regret set in.

His kiss was wanting, desperate and searching. It seemed like he wasn't getting enough of her and she didn't know how to help him. She was scared by him and scared by the feelings that were stirring inside of her. His hands started to move over the bottom of her cami, pulling it up, while also working on pulling down the straps, confused himself. She stroked his face, feeling the pain that he never showed to anyone.

Her touch seemed to only pull him back into reality, because as quickly as it began it ended. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, leaving Kate feeling confused. He was quiet and she didn't dare say anything, not knowing the full extent of what he had been through that day.

He suddenly stood up, and with his back to her he walked out the bedroom door, as if she meant nothing to him. She could hear the back sliders open and close. She waited for a long time for him to come back, do something, but he never did.

* * *

When Kate woke up the next morning, Jax was not in bed. She went out into the living room and found Wendy and the kids. She looked around, into the kitchen and out the sliders before sitting on the couch.

"He's not here and he took the car." Wendy said without looking up from her magazine.

Kate couldn't even explain the feelings she was having. She knew she had to get out of there. She felt so empty and confused. The way he had treated her the night before had hurt in a way she had never felt before. She knew he had been through a lot, but part of her wasn't being so understanding. She felt as if he was only using her for something, maybe a substitute for his loneliness from Tara, or maybe for comfort from a whore, she wasn't sure what, but it really sucked. The hours ticked by and she kept thinking, brain storming to form a new plan. Nothing good was going to come out of this one. Her bonding with his kids, with Wendy, with him, it was all only pointing towards heartbreak for her.

"You ok?" Wendy asked her after a while of keeping to herself. She must have noticed how distant Kate was acting.

"Yeah, I just don't feel so good today."

"Let me know if you need anything babe." Wendy offered her a small smile.

"Thanks."

She was getting tired of being trapped in the house. She couldn't wait until this was all over. Hopefully if he had take care of a lot of things the night before, it was coming to a close.

She was sitting outside, watching the kids play in the yard. They were trapped too. Summer was almost over and Abel would have to start school somewhere. She glanced behind her and saw Wendy on the phone with someone. It had to be Unser, no one else really knew the phone number here. She couldn't help to be curious at what they were talking about.

_But why, you are just a whore, just like Carlos said. No one would ever want you for anything but that_. Carlos had ruined her life in so many ways. He had stripped her of any control of her life, beat her down and kept her dependent on him. And now, even with him gone, he was still powerful in her life. Her past defined her, she could see it in their faces and their actions.

_Do you really fucking care? No you don't. Just get the fuck out of here. _Her mind was yelling at her, telling her to leave, as quickly as possible.

She would. Tonight she would pack. If he didn't come back she would just walk. She would walk until she found a bus or taxi and she would get on it to the farthest place possible. She didn't need all the money she had planned on. She could be resourceful if she needed to be.

Wendy came out to join her outside. "That was Unser."

"Oh really? What did he have to say?" She answered, but her voice remained uninterested.

Wendy looked at her, almost trying to figure something out, "Apparently Jax went on a little rampage yesterday. Left quite a trail and Unser has been trying his best to clean it up for him."

"Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"Just thought you would have something to say."

"Does he think they will find out it was him?"

"No. He's just really concerned about how much he is tying up. And honestly Kate, we should be too."

Kate looked at her. Wendy was concerned now, she guessed for her life. "You think he would hurt us?"

"I don't know. He really hates me."

"He needs you though, he can't take care of the boys alone."

"Did you see him last night?"

"Not for long."

Wendy stared at her, she didn't look at her but she could see it out of the corner of her eyes. Her eyes were narrowing at Kate and she thought she could even hear the wheels spinning.

"What did he do to you?"

"Nothing."

"Yes he did, that's why you've been so weird all day. I should have figured it out sooner."

"I just want this to all be over." Kate said as she reached for Wendy's cigarettes.

"Holy shit." Wendy said lighting one up for her. They sat quiet together, watching the kids play and be happy, unaware of all the horrible things happening around them. They heard the sound of a car pull into the driveway but neither of them made any attempt to move. They could hear the sound of the front door open and close. Kate didn't look at all. Wendy strained her head to look. And then she got up and went to the sliders, opening them and peeking her head inside. Kate sat straight forward, not wanting to give him an ounce of her attention.

"What's all that Jax?" Wendy called inside. "Jax?"

He must have walked over to the sliders, because she heard his voice close behind her. "Keep the boys out of my room Wendy."

"Yeah Jax, what is that shit?"

"It's all our stuff."

"It looked like guns."

"Hi Kate."

"Hi." She answered, not willing to turn around.

"Daddy, look what I found." Abel said running past Kate to Jax.

She decided to go inside and take a shower. She could lock herself away for about an hour. She walked past him to go inside the house. Not looking at him at all but she could tell he was looking at her.

In the room she saw several duffle bags. She could see there were clothes and toys in most of them. Another one had guns, pieces of them sticking out from the zipper because he couldn't shut it all the way. There was another smaller duffle bag, but she didn't know what was in that one.

She grabbed some clothes and locked herself in the bathroom, taking the longest shower she ever had. She relaxed as she let the hot water calm her body. Finally she got out and toweled off, throwing on her jeans and white v-neck that she had worn to the park that one day. It flashed into her mind and made her feel a little bit worse. She didn't bother drying her hair and just wiped the towel over it quick before finally leaving her safe place inside.

When she opened the bathroom door he was in the bedroom going through his bags. The little one was sitting open and she could see money in it now. How much money could be there? Filling an entire bag?

"You ok?" He asked her.

"Fine." He might be blowing her plan to leave tonight, by being here.

"Are you staying tonight? Or leaving?" She asked him, hoping he was leaving again.

"I'm staying."

She turned and went to leave the bedroom but he came over and grabbed her by the arm.

"Don't touch me," She said as she yanked it away.

He just stared at her and she was so angry at him she wanted to slap him in his face. "Don't ever touch me again understand? I'm not your fucking whore." She surprised herself at the emotions that were raging through her.

"Kate…"

She went to open the door but he pushed his arm against it, trapping her in.

She turned and slapped him in the face, what the hell was she thinking? Maybe he had needed her last night. No, he was using her like every other man ever had. He moved his hand in reaction and she stormed out. At least hopefully he wouldn't say anything in front of the kids.

Wendy eyed her with a raised eyebrow and she realized she had probably been a little too loud. She bit on the inside of her lip and sat her ass on the couch. No, she was leaving. It was time. She stormed back inside the room.

She started emptying her things out of the drawers and he walked over to the door to close it. Great thinking, fuck, he has a bag full of guns in here.

"What are you doing?" He asked as she was piling her shit on the bed.

"I'm getting the fuck out of here."

"Really? So where are you going exactly?"

"Somewhere very far away." She searched the room for her bags, she knew they were in here somewhere.

"And then what?"

"And then I start over, get a job, form relationships with people who don't treat me like a fucking urinal."

"You're really starting to piss me off Kate."

"I'm pissing _you_ off?" Frustrated, she decided to grab one of his bags and empty it out all over the bed before stuffing her stuff into it. He watched her load all her things up into the bag. She didn't look at him but she could see him standing there with a scowl on his face. She shoved the last of her things inside and squished it down with all her might so that she could zipper it up.

"You're out of control." He said, snatching the bag from her and walking out of the room.

*****I will update ASAP!*****


	19. Chapter 19

*****Sorry if I screwed up Kate for you guys, she's just going through a lot of emotions at once and I didn't think realistically she would be keeping it all together.*****

Real. Fucking. Great. He had ruined all her plans of leaving. She went into the bathroom, defeated, and cried.

The bathroom felt so small, her palms wet with the tears that fell between them and her face. "Hey you ok in there?" Wendy was knocking on the door to check up on her.

"Yes, just wonderful."

"Can I come in?"

"Um, I'm not really decent right now." She was referring to her red swollen eyes though, those would give her away for sure.

"Jax told me to check on you. Says you're going stir crazy."

"Ha, yeah ok."

"He took all your bags and drove them away, just so you know." Kate sighed to herself and wiped her hands on her shorts.

"Please let me in?"

Kate checked herself in the mirror before letting Wendy in. "Hey, don't let him get to you like that."

"It won't happen again, that's for sure."

"Oh boy. Want another cigarette?" That made her smile, "Listen Kate, I really like you. I know he does too. I'm not making excuses for him, but try to think about everything he is dealing with right now."

She wasn't sure what had taken over her before. Maybe it was self defense, not wanting to be taken advantage of by any man ever again. Maybe it was her losing it after everything she had been through recently. Maybe it _was_ her going stir crazy. But Wendy was right, no matter how much she had gone through, Jax was probably going through just as much, if not more. And who was she to add to the huge pile of shit he was dealing with right now. She knew she had overreacted. She felt like such an asshole.

"I don't know what's wrong with me, I have no right to be giving him shit. After everything he has helped me with." Kate rubbed temple with her fingers, "It's just like I reacted without thinking."

"You're both in some pretty crazy places right now, that's for sure."

"Yeah but he's not taking his shit out on me."

"Everyone reacts differently to different things. Don't beat yourself up over it. I'm sure you'll be able to make it up to him." Wendy patted her on her knee and winked at her, "Come on, I could really use your help with lunch."

* * *

Jax stopped at his mom's house to check on her, she hadn't been at the shop for a few days and that was unlike Gemma.

"Ma," He called out as he stepped inside. The place was a pigsty, old dishes were piled up in the sink, all over the counters and even still laying at their places on the table. An overflowing ash tray was also on the table, ashes smeared across the tabletop. "Ma!" He called out louder, starting to worry about her state of mind.

He went down the hall and found her passed out in her bed, over the covers and fully clothed. "Shit."

"Whaaat?" Gemma moaned, her face half squished to the comforter.

"What the fuck Ma, what's going on with you?" He tried to roll her to face him.

"Do you love me Jax?"

"God, what are you fucking drunk? You stink."

"I love you Jax, I love you and the boys more than anything in this world…._anything_."

"Ok, let's just get you up, you should eat something, take a shower, move around, whatever," He tried to push her into a sitting position, but her body fell limp and was making it difficult. She fell back down on the bed and he stepped back, wondering why she was such a mess, "Are you still seeing Nero?"

"Nero, no he couldn't handle my shit." Jax wondered if that happened before or after he decided to work with the Mayans. His mom was obviously not taking that split very well.

"You have to take me to see my grandsons Jax. I need to see them."

"We'll see Ma, you need to get your shit together first."

He pulled out his phone and decided to call Unser, knowing he had always cared for his mom, hopefully he could come over and get her cleaned up. Jax didn't really have time for this shit right now.

"Hey Jax, how ya doing? Have you heard from Juice?" Unser greeted him as he answered the phone.

"No, that's not why I'm calling, listen, Gemma is in bad shape right now, I have to deal with some things, you think you could help her get cleaned up and eat something?"

"Who is that?" Gemma moaned at him, "Is that Wayne? I don't want him here." Jax flashed his mom a confused look and waited for Unser's answer.

"Uh, well, I'm not sure if I can right now, I'm kind of busy moving some furniture for one of my neighbors." Unser's voice was hesitant, but Jax didn't have time for whatever game these two were playing.

"Listen, I don't know what the hell is going on between you two, but I need someone here, and you are the only person I can think of for this."

"Alright Jax, I'll swing by soon." Jax flipped the phone shut and looked back at his mother who was all sprawled out on the bed.

"I don't want him here." She repeated, speaking to the ceiling.

"Tough, you need to get your ass up and I don't have time to babysit you right now."

"Isn't there a prospect who could come?"

"Everyone's busy." His phone rang and he flipped it open to answer it, "Yeah?"

"Jackie boy, we got a meeting with Paulsen _tonight_," Chibs informed him.

"Good. Any word on Juice?"

"Nothing brother."

There was so much going on that Jax's head was starting to spin. He sighed, trying to figure out what his best move was. "Ok, I'm coming now, call church." He hung up his phone and looked again at his mother, she was always so strong and now she just looked so pathetic. How could breaking up with some guy do that to her? He just added it to his growing list of reasons he would have to talk to Nero soon.

"Ok Ma, I gotta go, Unser will be here any minute."

"No don't go."

"I'll check on you soon." He said, walking out the door.

* * *

When he got to the clubhouse the guys were already waiting in church for him, Chibs had already filled them in.

"Jax, I don't know about this meeting man," Bobby started as he took his seat, "It feels more like a trap to me, especially after the way we just ambushed the Mayans."

"We will need all of our guys there, that's for damn sure," Tig agreed.

"I agree, we should all go, some of you will just need to hang back." Jax answered their stares. "But we have leverage with Paulsen. He was a regular at Diosa, doing really pervy stuff, wanting to be with young girls and sick shit like that. I was hoping to use some of that to our advantage."

"Like blackmailing him to work with us instead of them?" Happy chimed in, but it sounded more like a statement than a question.

"Yeah." Jax answered.

"So the dickhead likes to dangle his balls in the mouths of little babes," Tig wondered aloud. Something about his statement made Jax want to punch him in the face.

"So how are we going to prove it? Isn't Nero working with him now?" Bobby questioned.

Jax sat in thought, still working out the details in his head, "I'm not sure yet, but it's something we need to figure out."

* * *

The next day, Wendy and Kate were sitting in the back yard watching the kids play. Things had been quieter between them, they hadn't heard from Jax and could only assume things were getting really bad in Charming, that or he didn't feel like being slapped by Kate again, she cringed thinking about her childish behavior.

Wendy had tried questioning Freddie, especially after hearing from Unser about Jax's rampage. But he never gave up any information, always saying it was club business. Wendy had been smoking like a chain smoker, probably due to nerves and boredom, but she was bound to run out of cigarettes soon.

"If you need some extra clothes, I have plenty," Wendy chuckled, glancing over at Kate while lighting up another one.

"Very funny." Kate looked down at herself, still dressed in the same pajamas as yesterday.

"Did he take your tooth brush too?"

"No, luckily I forgot to pack that during my frantic hissy fit." At least she could feel somewhat clean. She really wanted him to come back. Mostly so she could apologize and try to explain herself. She also wanted to make sure he knew that she appreciated all he had done for her. But having her clothes back would be a definite plus too.

"So you were an escort?" Wendy interrupted her thoughts, keeping her eyes on the boys and catching Kate completely off guard.

"Yeah, who told you?" Kate answered uncomfortably.

"Freddie."

_Fucking asshole_, she glanced over at Freddie who pretended not to over hear them.

"It's a part of my life that's behind me now, nothing I ever wanted to be doing."

"Freddie say's you were one of the best."

"Is that so?" She glanced again at Freddie. She knew for a fact she had never been with him. He refused to look at her. "Can't say I ever met Freddie until I came here."

"Your reputation precedes you," Freddie finally spoke. He still wouldn't look at her.

Kate felt like choking the asshole. But she remembered how she had just overreacted with Jax. This wasn't her and she was determined not to let her wounds turn her into a person she wasn't. She bit down on her tongue, trying her hardest to ignore him.

"Kate, we've all done things we aren't proud of, trust me I know, and I get it."

Kate smiled at Wendy, thankful that she could calm her.

"Having a nice chat with the girls?" Kate and Wendy turned, startled to see Jax standing behind Freddie, his right hand resting on Freddie's left shoulder.

"No man, I'm not into girl talk." Freddie answered him. They could see him try to pull himself together, wanting to not give Jax the wrong idea, but from the annoyed look on Jax's face they could only assume he heard everything.

"Can I talk to you for a minute inside?" Jax asked him. Wendy and Kate turned forward, feeling awkward at the exchange.

"Sure man."

Wendy flashed Kate a grin as they heard the two men walk towards the house. "See, you didn't screw up too bad."


End file.
